Friday, April 24, 2015

Court Notice to Centre on Filling CIC Post

Indian Express: Chennai: Friday, April 24, 2015.
Madras High Court on Thursday ordered notice to the Centre on a PIL seeking to fill up the vacant post of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).
The post of CIC remains vacant since August 8, 2014, resulting in mounting pendency in the disposal of appeals which in effect defeats the very purpose of enacting the RTI Act, the PIL said.
The petitioner, Jawaharlal Shanmugam of Tiruvanmiyur, submitted that details in the Central Information Commission’s website, reveal that 11,228 cases are pending before the CIC.
When his RTI application to income tax department and the appeal to the appellate authority were rejected he filed a second appeal to the CIC, New Delhi. “Though the appeal was registered, I did not receive any communication from the CIC. This was, however, not a rare instance, as scores of petitions were pending before the CIC,” said Shanmugam.
He pointed out that the CIC holds important portfolios and the vacant post would add to the woes of people seeking RTI replies.