Moneycontrol: National: Friday, January 18,
2019.
A former Central Information Commissioner
has written to the President on Thursday seeking disclosure of all the
documents and reports that became the basis of removal of Alok Verma as CBI
Director.
In his letter to President Ram Nath
Kovind, former CIC Sridhar Acharyulu strongly advocated instilling transparency
in the CBI and CIC appointments.
"The transparency should begin with
CIC appointments and it should be ensured in all activities of governance in
all institutions like CBI and CIC, and top-level Committees headed by the Prime
Minister in dealing with issues like appointing and removing director of CBI
and selecting the Commissioners for CIC, etc," he said.
Recalling the speech of Kovind on the
annual convention of the Central Information Commission last year where he had
said there was no such thing as too much information in a democracy, Acharyulu
said there is serious information deficit on the CBI and CIC appointments.
“Information deficit about Information
Commissioners will not enable citizen to take up the issues with CIC with
confidence,” he said.
On the removal of Verma as CBI chief,
Acharyulu said complete information like the CVC report or any other document
that formed basis for the decision should be disclosed as demanded by Leader of
Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge who was also part of the High level
committee which took the decision in a split verdict.
“Undoubtedly the Committee has power to
remove the director as confirmed by the bench of Supreme Court, but is it not
necessary to disclose all material reports considered for removal to be made
available to the public in general and members of the committee including Mr
Kharge in particular,” he said
Citing the speech of Kovind where he had
said the issue of transparency is about nurturing the social contract of trust
between the citizen and the state where both must have faith in each other,
Acharyulu asked why the Government is leaving the people with serious dearth of
information about happenings in CBI and appointments in CIC?
“Section 4 of RTI Act mandates voluntary
disclosure about all appointments. The Supreme Court said that there should be
transparency in this process of CIC appointments. The Government takes steps to
fill the vacancies only when the judiciary goads them and reviews the process
like a super boss, in the public interest litigations filed by public spirited
persons. Yet they are not giving required details,” he said.
Alok Verma was removed on January 10
unceremoniously as the CBI director after a high-powered panel led by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi found that he had not been functioning with integrity
expected of him.