The Karnataka State Information Commission has urged the State government to enact a legislation enabling them to punish the government authority concerned for the loss of a file with an ulterior motive. The Commission has already brought to the notice of the State, the need for enacting such a law.

Speaking at a workshop on Right To Information Act, organised jointly by the Hyderabad-Karnataka Environment Awareness and Protection Organisation and the Seth Shankarlal Lahoti Law College here on Saturday, State Information Commissioner K A Thippeswamy said that there was no provision under any law to hold the official concerned accountable for the loss of  a file, either intentionally or otherwise, with authorities developing what he called ‘the missing file syndrome’ to escape from accountability.

Responsible
“Right now no one can be held responsible for a missing file from the custody of the public authority. As a result, the public authority conveniently escapes from the accountability.’’ Thippeswamy said, adding the file might have been destroyed or stolen on purpose. He pointed out that the central government already has an enactment - Public Records Act (1993) - under which a specific official could be held accountable for a missing file, and duly punished.

The Information Commissioner said the new law should have a provision to punish the public authority for the offense of missing of the file, for imprisonment up to five years. State Chief Information Commissioner K K Misra, who inaugurated the workshop, said the RTI Act was a major legislation which if used effectively can usher in transparency and accountability, leading to good governance.