PANAJI
The Goa State Information Commission will on March 24 hold final arguments into appeals charging the Raj Bhavan officials with concealing information sought under The Right To Information Act.
Advocate Aires Rodrigues, in October 2021, sought copies of all the official letters by then Governor Satya Pal Malik to the Prime Minister and Home Minister during his tenure in Goa from November 3, 2019, to August 18, 2020. While PIO Gaurish Shankhwalkar replied that official letters were unavailable, the applicant subsequently sought a copy of all the official letters received by the Governor from the PM and HM during the same period. To this, Shankhwalkar further replied that these letters were received in sealed envelopes and handed over to the Governor's Personal Secretary. As such, he is unaware of the contents as it is also not part of the records and files of his office.
Rodrigues then moved the Commission challenging the replies, which will now be heard on March 24.
In another matter, State Chief Information Commissioner Vishwas Satarkar will on February 13 deliver his judgment on an appeal filed by Adv Rodrigues into the Legislative Assembly’s failure to submit details including expenditure incurred into a two-day training workshop held for MLAs in June 2022 at a starred hotel in Panaji.
