CIVIC officials messed with the wrong grandmother when they tried to withhold information from 62-year-old Sunetra Dolas—information she was entitled to under the Maharashtra Right to Information (MRTI) Act, 2002.
Following her 32 MRTI applications and appeals to Thane Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Sethi, two civic officials have been fined a total of Rs 47,000 for misguiding and withholding public information. They are now also facing disciplinary proceedings.
Dolas’s fight began in July, when officials stonewalled her questions about the dubious constructions on a 3.5-acre plot in Rabodi, Thane, given to the Harijan Hitavardak Co-Operative Housing Society.
Dolas, a retired municipal deputy headmistress, is a member of the society, founded by her late father Bhausaheb Nandgaonkar.
The plot was handed over to the society in 1950 to provide houses for Dalits. But some members of the society began building houses on the land themselves. ‘‘The plot witnessed sporadic construction activity, flouting all rules and regulations,’’ said Dolas.
After studying the MRTI Act, Dolas made 32 applications seeking details of the area, type of buildings being built and whether they had the required sanctions.
‘‘The replies were very disappointing. They said we were interfering in civic affairs and that they knew their job,’’ said Dolas.
The applications were first addressed to Assistant Municipal Commissioner Ghanshyam Thorat, who wrote back saying he couldn’t divulge the information as it was a state secret under Section 8 (1) (b) of the MRTI Act.
This was untrue.
She addressed her next applications to Ramchandra Kawle, assistant director of the Town Planning Department.
He replied that the constructions had not been sanctioned by the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and told her to check with the Collector’s office.
She did, and it became obvious that Kawle was misleading her. Although the land belonged to the Collector, the TMC was the sanctioning authority.
When the matter finally came up for hearing before Sethi, Kawle accused Dolas of ‘harassment’ and ‘bearing a grudge’. Sethi nevertheless ruled in her favour.
On December 8, Kawle was fined Rs 41,250 and Thorat Rs 6,000. They have also been ordered to give her the information she requested within 30 days or face further disciplinary action. A vindicated Dolas is all praise for Sethi.
‘‘This was my first attempt to use the act and, with the order of the municipal commissioner, I feel it was the worth the effort,’’ she said.
nganesh@expressindia.com