Haryana Right to Service Commission penalises official for biased conduct

Chandigarh, April 25 (IANS) The Haryana Right to Service Commission on Friday said it has taken a tough stance on irregularities and biased conduct in the process of verification of wills registered at the estate office in Karnal city.

The commission has found the role of Assistant District Attorney Avtar Singh Saini inconsistent and without accountability.

A commission spokesperson, while giving information, said the investigation regarding the irregularities made it clear that uniformity was not followed in the verification process, and selected applicants were targeted and unnecessarily harassed.

It was also found in the review of records that the comments made in most of the files were almost similar and it is difficult to say whether the verification process was actually completed or not.

The commission believes that this case reflects not only the negligence of a single employee, but an organized and planned harassment, in which the role of assistants has also been found suspicious.

The commission completely rejected various arguments given by the Assistant District Attorney to avoid his role and made it clear that even if his recommendations are not conclusive, it cannot absolve him of his responsibility.

It has directed the Additional Chief Secretary (Town and Country Planning) to initiate disciplinary action against the Assistant District Attorney and inform the commission about the action taken in this regard within 30 days from the date of receipt of the order.

In addition, the commission, taking action under Section 17 (1) (H) of the Haryana Right to Service Act, 2014, has taken the continuous harassment of the appellant very seriously and ordered to pay compensation of Rs 5,000 to complainant Satish Kumar Agarwal.

This compensation will be provided by the Haryana Urban Development Authority from its own funds and later this amount will be recovered from the guilty officer.

--IANS

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