Information Panel Reprimands Sholinganallur Revenue Officers For Ignoring Orders
The Tamil Nadu State Information Commission has reprimanded revenue officers in Sholinganallur and the South Chennai revenue divisional office for failing to comply with its orders regarding Right to Information (RTI) petitions. Information commissioner P Thamarai Kannan, who has since retired, issued the directive in an order dated June 11, giving the local authorities a final opportunity to comply before facing potential financial penalties and departmental action.
The issue stems from several second appeals and complaint petitions filed by different individuals, identified as D Kumar, C Kumar, Khaja Moideen, Vimal, James Victor Raj, and V Ramakrishnan. Although these original petitions date back to 2023, and the commission subsequently ordered the public information officer of the Sholinganallur tahsildar office to furnish the requested information in 2025, the directives were ignored for over a year.
The commission discovered the persistent non-compliance during its latest hearings. In his order, Thamarai Kannan gave one last chance to the appellate authority, who is the Sholinganallur tahsildar, to comply with the directives. The tahsildar has been ordered to submit a compliance report in person on July 27.
Furthermore, the appellate authority must secure and submit an explanation from the then-public information officer (PIO) regarding the failure to furnish the sought information. The PIO must also explain why a penalty of Rs 25,000 should not be levied on them, alongside potential departmental action for their inaction.
The commission also expressed deep displeasure with the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) of Chennai South. The RDO had previously been instructed by the commission to conduct an internal inquiry into the non-compliance of the Sholinganallur officials but failed to do so. The commission has now ordered the South Chennai RDO to submit an explanation for ignoring these directives by the same July 27 deadline.
