CUDDALORE: At a time when judges of the Supreme Court and high courts
are coming forward to disclose their wealth, the police department in
Tamil Nadu has refused to furnish details about the assets of three
IPS officers in response to a query filed under the Right to
Information Act.
The details sought "are highly confidential in nature, and not open to
public scrutiny unless the information (is) sought by the officers
concerned themselves. Therefore, it couldn`t be provided to any
private persons on any purpose", said the IGP (Establishment) in the
office of the Director General of Police, who is the public
information officer (PIO) under RTI. He was replying to a query by K
Irisappan from Puducherry, seeking copies of annual property returns
(APRs) submitted by three IPS officers. The department not only
refused to part with details on assets, it also declined to disclose
information pertaining to service records and educational
qualifications of the officials.
Irisappan, however, argues that information regarding civil servants
wasn`t exempt from disclosure. He cites a Punjab state information
commission order passed in December 2009, declaring that information
regarding assets of Punjab IAS officers was not exempt from disclosure
under the RTI Act, as annual property returns submitted by government
employees were in the public domain. It had further observed that
``the decision should be considered a step to contain corruption in
government offices, since such disclosures may reveal assets
disproportionate to known sources of income."
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