NAGPUR: In a victory of sorts for former Nagpur municipal commissioner Lokesh Chandra, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Wednesday quashed
the order passed by information commissioner of Vidarbha, Vilas Patil on June 25 under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Patil had directed the general administration department (GAD), headed by chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, to disclose the assets of Chandra and his wife Abha Shukla, who was then additional divisional commissioner of Nagpur. Patil's order had stirred the hornet's nest in the bureaucracy and police machinery.
The court also referred back the case to chief information commissioner (CIC) saying that "while passing the order under RTI, the commissioner had not listened Chandra's side." The court has directed the CIC to hear Chandra before November 17 and decide the issue before December 31. CS Kaptan was the counsel for petitioner.
Chandra in his plea informed that all officers coming under civil services, including IAS and IPS, have to compulsorily file information and annual statement regarding their immovable assets every year to the state government before January 1. The information is to be submitted to the government's GAD in an envelope. Generally, the information in envelopes is never open to the public, except if there are directions by the court.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nagpur/HC_quashes_info_commissioners_order_against_Chandra_/articleshow/3575712.cms
However, Sunil Mishra, one of the key convicts in Nagpur University's fake marksheet and revaluation scam, had approached the information officer under Section 6 of RTI Act for details of annual property returns filed by Chandra and his wife.
