The Himachal Pradesh Public Service Guarantee Act 2011
Right to Public Services legislation in Himachal pradesh comprises statutory law which guarantee time bound delivery of services for various public services rendered by the Government to citizen and provides mechanism for punishing the errant public servant who is deficient in providing the service stipulated under the statute.
Key provisions of the act
- The State Government may, from time to time, notify the services, designated officers, first appellate authority, second appellate authority and stipulated time limits for the purpose of this Act.
- Right to obtain service within stipulated time limit: The designated officer shall provide the service notified under section 3 of the law to the person eligible to obtain the service, within the stipulated time limit.
- Stipulated time limit shall start from the date of receipt of application for notified service by the designated officer or the person subordinate to him authorized to receive such applications and such application shall be duly acknowledged by him.
- The designated officer on receipt of an application under shall, within the stipulated time limit, either provide service or reject the application and in case of rejection of application, shall record the reasons in writing and intimate to the applicant.
Right to appeal
- Any person, whose application is rejected under sub-section (2) of section 5 or who is not provided the service within the stipulated time limit, may file an appeal to the first appellate authority within thirty days from the date of rejection of application or the expiry of the stipulated time limit, as the case may be : Provided that the first appellate authority may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of thirty days if he is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.
- The first appellate authority may order the designated officer to provide the service within the specified period or may reject the appeal.
- An appeal under sub-section (1) shall be disposed of within thirty days of the receipt of the appeal or within such extended period not exceeding a total period of forty-five days from the date of filling thereof, as the case may be, for reasons to be recorded in writing.
- If the designated officer does not comply with the order of providing the service under sub-section (2), then the applicant aggrieved from such non-compliance may file a second appeal to the second appellate authority.
Powers and functions of second appellate authority.
- A second appeal against the decision under sub- section (2) of section 6 shall lie within sixty days from the date of decision to the second appellate authority:
- Provided that the second appellate authority may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of sixty days, if he is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.
- The second appellate authority may order the designated officer to provide the service within such period as he may specify or may reject the appeal.
- The first appellate authority and the second appellate authority shall, while conducting proceedings under this section have the same powers as are vested in a civil court while trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
- In any appeal proceedings, the onus to prove that denial of a request was justified shall be on the designated officer, who denied the request or failed to provide the services within stipulated time limit.
Penalty
Where the second appellate authority is of the opinion that the designated officer has failed to provide service or has caused delay in providing such service without sufficient and reasonable cause, then he may impose a lump sum penalty which shall not be less than one thousand rupees but not more than five thousand rupees.
The second appellate authority may order to give any amount as compensation to the appellant from out of the penalty imposed under this section, but the amount of such compensation shall not exceed the amount of penalty imposed.
If the second appellate authority is satisfied that the designated officer has failed to discharge the duties under this Act, without sufficient and reasonable cause, then it may also recommend to the appointing or disciplinary authority of the designated officer that disciplinary action under the applicable service rules be also initiated against such officer.
Protection of action taken in good faith
No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rules made there under.
Bar of jurisdiction
Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, every order made by designated officer, first appellate authority or second appellate authority shall not be called in question by any court or before any officer or authority.