The Keralam State Information Commission has ordered the Director of the Department of Survey and Land Records, Dr. J.O. Arun, to pay ₹1 lakh in compensation after the Public Information Officer gave a false and misleading reply to an individual who had sought information through an RTI (Right to Information) application.

The Chief Information Commissioner V. Hari Nair, in an order dated August 19, has directed P. Vishwambharan, the former Survey Superintendent at Kollam Collectorate and the then Public Information Officer, to pay a fine of ₹20,000.

The origins of the case are from an application filed under the RTI Act by the applicant Kurien George in 2013, with the Directorate of Survey and Land Records.

The application sought the right to personally inspect the relevant file at the Kollam Survey Superintendent’s office regarding the extent or the area of the applicant’s property.

Although the application was transferred from the Survey Directorate to the Kollam District Survey Superintendent under Section 6(3) of the Right to Information Act 2005, the Public Information Officer gave an incorrect reply without granting the applicant, the right to inspect the file.

After failing to obtain the information even through the first appeal, the petitioner approached the Information Commission. Following continued proceedings before the Information Commission and the Kerala High Court, the High Court referred the appeal petition to the Information Commission for consideration.

The State Information Commission issued its final order after conducting a hearing in which the then Public Information Officer (who had since retired) and the first appellate authority were tagged on as additional respondents.

The Commission found that P. Vishwambharan, the Public Information Officer at the time, who gave an incorrect reply without granting the applicant the right to inspect the file relating to the petitioner’s property, had committed a serious violation of the law. The fine was imposed on Mr. Vishwambharan on the basis of this finding of the Commission.

The Survey Director, who appeared before the Commission, admitted the lapses committed by the Public Information Officer and the first appellate authority and promised that all steps would be taken to prevent the recurrence of such lapses ion future.

However, the State Information Commission pointed out that an apology would not suffice to allay the physical, mental and financial hardship that the petitioner, Kurien George, now 82 years old, had undergone all these years and thus ordered the Survey Director to pay the petitioner ₹1 lakh in compensation.

Published - August 22, 2026 04:51 pm IST