Times of India: Panaji: Sunday, August 30, 2015.
The state
government has finalized the name of former additional president of the Goa state
administrative tribunal, south district, Prashant Tendulkar, as the new chief
information commissioner (CIC). Tendulkar served at the tribunal from September
20, 2013 to February 28, 2015.
The
government has also finalized senior public prosecutor, Pratima Vernekar, and
lawyer, social activist, writer, and TV host, Juino D'Souza, as the new state
information commissioners.
The names
were finalized by the three-member committee headed by chief minister Laxmikant
Parsekar. Other panel members are deputy CM Francis D'Souza and opposition
leader Pratapsingh Rane. Sources said the decisions were unanimous, and the
file finalizing the names of the three information commissioners was signed by
Parsekar on Saturday evening.
The decision
follows the high court of Bombay at Goa ordering the state, last week, to file
an affidavit within two weeks, in a writ petition seeking the appointment of
the Goa Lokayukta and information commissioners. The petition has been filed by
the Goa RTI Forum and others.
The CIC post
has been vacant since January this year, after Leena Mehendale's term got over.
The retired IAS officer and former Maharashtra additional chief secretary was
selected and sworn in as CIC by then governor, B V Wanchoo, in October 2013
after the government announced the shortlisted names for CIC and SICs in July
of that year.
When the
first CIC, A Venkatratnam, retired in March 2009, the appointment of M S Keny
as CIC was made seven months later, in October 2009, even though the post of
SIC was filled instantly. But when SIC Afonso Araujo, appointed on March 4,
2009, retired in September 2010 there was no attempt to fill the post till
2012.