There was a gap of almost 10 days in writing daily blogs. The reason is that I have paid visit to historical spots of Jaipur, Udaipur & Mount Abu of Rajasthan.  Now, I resume my social work with full spirit.

Shri V. R Yadav has been nominated as President of "Right Thinking Indians Association, Raipur, Chhattisgarh" of Raipur District and he will ask RTI querries from the State Government Departments of Chhattisgarh as well as Central Govt Department of the same state. We will start with seeking A.G reports from sensitive departments of the Governments. The Accountant General Report is an accepted Report as the office is a statutory Department created by Law. As a non Govt social organisation, our "Right Thinking Indians Association" will see whether the Report submitted by the AG office is being actually implemented or not. For fulfillment of this limited object, we hereby undertake the self imposed task of one type of "Audit by Public of Public Accounts". This sharing of Information & document kept in Government offices is the true spirit of "Right to Information Act, 2005."

platform for expressing public feelings

We, the members of "Right Thinking Indians Association" Raipur, Chhattisgarh are arranging a small gathering for expressing public desires, feelings and the requirements of the public. The leaflet of the meeting is uploaded for public viewing.

Information on Defaulters of SBI sought under the RTI Act, 05

We have raised two questions on State Bank of India under the RTI Act, 2005. The 1st one is Recovery Agent of the Bank. We wanted to know the list of Recovery Agents and the amount paid by them. The amount received by such Agents is a taxable service and we, the Right Thinking Indians Associations wants to examine whether Service Tax has already been paid by them or not. The newly appointed CIC Information Commissioner has rejected our Appeal on the ground that the information sought does not serve any public interest.

The second one RTI Application was to know about details of Defaulters of SBI. Our contention is that the loan amount given by the Banks is nothing but public money and therefore it is matter of public interest. The copy of PH letter is uploaded for public awareness. We do not believe that the retired IAS of Bihar will deliver any good judgment and therefore do not feel any such necessity of attending the PH date on 18th Feb, 2013.

RTI matter on SBI in the court of CIC, New Delhi

We have raised two questions on State Bank of India under the RTI Act, 2005. The 1st one is Recovery Agent of the Bank. We wanted to know the list of Recovery Agents and the amount paid by the them. The amount received by such Agents is a taxable service and we, the Right Thinking Indians Associations wants to examine whether Service Tax has already been paid by them or not. The newly appointed CIC Information Commissioner has rejected our Appeal on the ground that the information sought does not serve any public interest.

The second one RTI Application was to know about details of Defaulters of SBI. Our contention is that the loan amount given by the Banks is nothing but public money and therefore it is matter of public interest. The copy of PH letter is uploaded for public awareness. We do not believe that the retired IAS of Bihar will deliver any good judgment and therefore do not feel any such necessity of attending the PH date on 18th Feb, 2013.

CIC, New Delhi is the apex body of Information Commission and has been formed as the final Authority of Appeal in providing of Information & documents under the RTI Act, 2005. It has also the power to impose penalty under Section 19 of the RTI Act for non providing, delay in providing of information and for providing of misleading information.
One such case has been decided on dtd 18.12.2012 by Information Commissioner Smt Susma Singh. The facts of the case is that Shri R.K Jain, the renowned publisher of ELT has asked certain information & document under the RTI Act from CESTAT, New Delhi. The Commission found that there was delay of 42 days for which a penalty amount of @Rs 250/- per day total amount of Rs 10,500/- was imposed on Shri Mohinder Singh CPIO & Shri Pramod Kumar, deemed CPIO.
I have also sought information about dropping of Demand cases from the same Tribunal which was denied. Hence, I feel glad to see this Order. The "Right Thinking Indians Association" Raipur, Chhattisgarh hopes this type of orders will go a long way in curbing the ego, authoritarian attitude & the negligence of Govt Officers while dealing with matters relating to Public life.

It is pertinent to mention here that a few years back, Shri Pramod Kumar was the Commissioner of Central Excise, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. My best wishes for Shri R.K Jain who championed the public cause. I hereby upload the 1st two pages of the said decision.

Service Tax on Builders wef dtd 1.7.2010

Recently, a Bengali gentleman of Nehru Nagar, Bhilai contacted me and wanted clarification on service tax payment liability of Builder vis a vis Customer. He was eager to get a confirmation of the view that he is not required to pay Service Tax on his Building purchased from a reputed Builder.

The facts of the case is that he has booked his house before dtd 1.7.2010 and prior to this date, Builder was not liable for payment of Service Tax on Construction of Complex Service popularly known as "Residential Construction" Service. The case is a little bit complicated that even though he has booked his house prior to the crucial date of 1.7.2010, a part payment was made after this date and the Builder is obviously demanding Service Tax from the gentleman. Our awakened customer has searched net and has downloaded some article from Taxguru site which emphatically stated that Buildings purchased prior to dtd 1.7.2010 is not liable for service Tax on this category of Service. He was impatient to prove his point and wanted that I should nod my head in his favour but I do not agree with  view of Taxguru site and as contended by our gentleman customer.

My point is that the value received by the Party (Builder) is inclusive of Service Tax. It is as per Section 67 of the Finance Act. When the Builder has received value of service on account purchase of house from the said customer, he is bound to make payment of Service Tax on such value of Service received after dtd 1.7.2010. The Value received prior to dtd 1.7.2010 is no doubt "not taxable" but it is not possible to stretch this date further on the plea of date of booking was prior to this date. Anyway, I could not convince that gentleman. 

Trying again

The danger to Society comes every time and every time a solution is found out. Therefore, we, some people sit every Sunday in Coffee House of Civil Lines, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Since, we are feeling coffee house talk falls short of the expectation, we are planning to sit some more people say 200/250. Let us see, a force may emerge from it.

I know one Mr Anil Agarwal who is connected with vetran RTI Activist Mr Arvind Kejriwal.  Mr Agarwal meets him & talk with him every Sunday through video conference. All these things encouraged me that India is moving. So, I also decided to move.