Hunsur CMC officer fined Rs 25,000 for not giving CCTV camera footage to RTI activist
Hunsur: The Karnataka Information Commission has fined a City Municipal Council officer here Rs 25,000 for not handing the CCTV camera footage of the Municipality office to an applicant, in violation of the instructions of the Commission.
J B Obaidullah, an RTI activist of the Hunsur Muslim Block, had asked on February 3, 2022 for footage of the CCTV camera at the CMC office, under the provisions of the RTI Act. The activist had also paid the requisite fees to get access to the footage.
The Municipality, however, responded on October 21, 2022 that there was no backup of the CCTV camera footage asked for by the activist.
Obaidullah complained to the Commission about the failure of the CMC to hand him the footage. Also, while the Commission has ordered that applicants be given the information asked for within 30 days of the submission of application, the CMC had not fulfilled the demand of the applicant for more than 300 days. Instead, the Municipality had merely responded that the footage was unavailable.
The Commission, considering this a violation of the RTI Act, has fined the City Municipality officer, Chandru, Rs 25,000.
State Information Commissioner H C Sathyan has ordered the officer to pay the fine in one instalment and return within deadline the fees collected from the applicant for the CCTV camera footage. The officer has also been instructed to submit a report on the matter to the Commission.
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41 lakh illicit liquor seized, 1.84 lakh arrested in major drive: K'taka Minister tells Assembly
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
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He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
