Re: [HumJanenge] Fw: Rx for “Lost file” excuse by Government departments: Public Records Act

Victor, thnx for sharing this info. really important , can come in
handy when doing follow up of lost(?) files in Govt depts.
I mean with the kind of hundreds of staff employed by the respected
govt, one still resorts to lost! resorts.
Regards.

On 12/31/10, Vijay Kapoor <vijay99kapoor@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Dear Sarbajit:
> Sorry.  Wont consciously do it again. (I was only trying to disseminate info
> as widely as possible.)
> Regards,Victor
>
> --- On Thu, 12/30/10, sroy 1947 <sroy1947@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> From: sroy 1947 <sroy1947@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [HumJanenge] Fw: Rx for "Lost file" excuse by Government
> departments: Public Records Act
> To: humjanenge@googlegroups.com
> Date: Thursday, December 30, 2010, 9:32 PM
>
> Dear Victor
>
> 1) Kindly do not cross-post messages. After 24 hours the group management
> will be terminating members who cross post.
>
> 2) Krishnaraj Rao does not possess a true copy of the PR Act. The "real"
> version can be found here (published by the National Archives u/s 4)
>
> http://nationalarchives.nic.in/writereaddata/html_en_files/html/public_records93.html
>
> 3) Section 9 of the Act in this version (not 10 as he claims) reads as
> follows:
>
>
> "Whoever contravenes any of the provisions of
> section 4 or section 8 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term
> which may extend to five years or with fine which may extend to ten
> thousand rupees or with both. "
>
> Section 4 deals with taking records out of India without permission
> Section 8 deals with destruction or disposal of records.
> (Rule 9(4) specifies that destruction is to take place by burning /
> shredding in the presence of the records office,  "disposal" has not been
> prescribed)
>
> www.sdobishnupur.in/Acts%20and%20Rules/Dictionery/1654.pdf
>
> The case of "lost" records is therefore not covered under this penal clause
> at all.
>
> Furthermore nowhere in the Act is it specified that the offences are
> "cognisable" and that a FIR can be registered or how/who has to register it.
>
> Lastly I may mention, that this scheme of FIR under Public Records Act was
> repeatedly used by a corrupt IC, but on my formal complaint to the CCIC (not
> Mr Habibullah) the corrupt practice of issuing FIRs for cash seems to have
> stopped.
>
>
> THE MORE RTI EGROUPS LIKE OURS ARE ALLOWED TO BE MISUSED BY THE LIKES OF
> KRISHNARAJ RAO, THE MORE THE CORRUPT ICS WILL BE EMBOLDENED TO PERPETUATE
> THEIR CORRUPTION.
>
> Sarbajit
>
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 2:42 AM, Victor Cooper <victor99cooper@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> --- On Thu, 12/30/10, Krishnaraj Rao <sahasipadyatri@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Krishnaraj Rao <sahasipadyatri@gmail.com>
> Subject: [rti4empowerment] "Lost file" excuse? Get FIR against Records
> Officer using these sections of Public Records Act
>
> To: rti-forum-for-instant-information-@googlegroups.com,
> rti4empowerment@yahoogroups.com, rtikerala@yahoogroups.co.in, "Dr Mohd Naved
> Khan RTIgroup" <mohdnavedkhan@gmail.com>
>
> Date: Thursday, December 30, 2010, 1:34 AM
>
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> Dear RTI
> activists,
>
>
>
> Just as we have the Public Information Officer
> (PIO) in every public authority, there is a Records Officer (RO) in almost
> every
> government department who can be fined Rs 10,000 or imprisoned for five
> years if
> documents are lost or tampered.
>
>
>
> FOR CENTRAL GOVT DOCUMENTS, read Sec 10 of "Public Records Act 1993":
> http://tinyurl.com/PublicRecords1
>
>
>
>
>
> FOR MAHARASHTRA
> GOVT DOCUMENTS, read Sec 9 of "Maharashtra Act No 4 of 2006":
> http://tinyurl.com/PublicRecords3
>
>
>
>
> Quite often, we
> are denied information due to our own ignorance of these laws. No government
> employee can blandly say, "File lost" to an information seeker. There are
> clear-cut laws providing for who is to be held responsible and what is to be
> done in case documents or files are lost, misplaced or stolen. Therefore,
> under
> RTI, "File lost" can only be given as a reason for DELAY in providing
> information, but not as a reason for DENIAL of information.
>
>
>
> If a file is
> lost, there is a clear-cut procedure that the officer designated as "Records
> Officer" has to follow. This may be summarized as "SRF" i.e.
>
> a) SEARCH
>
> b) RECONSTRUCT the file
>
>
> c) Register FIR.
>
>
>
> UNDERSTAND THESE KEY
> SECTIONS OF PUBLIC RECORDS ACT 1993:
>
> SECTION 6:
>
> Every
> records creating agency shall nominate one of its officers as records
> officer
> to discharge the functions under this Act.
>
>
>
> Every
> records creating agency may set up such number of record rooms in such
> places
> as it deems fit and shall place each record room under the charge of a
> records
> officer.
>
>
>
> SECTION 8:
>
> The
> records officer shall, in the event of any unauthorised removal,
> destruction,
> defacement or alteration of any public records under his charge,
> forthwith
> take appropriate action for the recovery or restoration of such public
> records.
>
>
>
> The
> records officer shall submit a report in writing to the Director
> General or
> as the case may be, the head of the Archives without any delay on any
> information
> about any unauthorised removal, destruction, defacement or alteration
> of
> any public record under his charge and about the action initiated by
> him
> and shall take action as he may deem necessary, subject to the
> directions,
> if any, given by Director General or, as the case may be, head of the
> Archives.
>
>
>
> The
> records officer may seek assistance from any government officer or any
> other person for the purpose of recovery or restoration of public
> records
> and such officer or person shall render all assistance to the records
> officer.
>
>
>
> SECTION 10: Whoever
> contravenes any of the provisions of section 4 or section 8 shall be
> punishable
> with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years or with fine
> which
> may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.
>
>
>
> MAHARASHTRA ACTIVISTS: The corresponding sections of the State Act
> are 5, 7 & 9.
>
>
>
> Exactly how, when and where must public
> records be classified, preserved, withdrawn or destroyed? Study Public
> Records RULES 1997:
> http://tinyurl.com/PublicRecords2
>
>
> (These rules apply to Central Govt
> documents, but there must be similar rules for State Govt.)
>
>
>
> Especially read the forms given at the bottom of the Rules,
> particularly Form 8, which enables citizens to enroll as "Research Scholars"
> and study the documents
> at National Archives of India. Many hidden treasures may lie in these
> archives,
> waiting to be discovered by you!
>
>
>
> Warm Regards,
>
> Krish
>
> 98215 88114
>
>
>
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> __._
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>