CIC choice a blow to RTI: Jayalalithaa

By Express News Service  : Wednesday, September 08, 2010 :

CHENNAI: Leader of Opposition J Jayalalithaa on Monday charged that the appointment of the next Chief Information Commissioner of the State in a non-transparent manner without consulting her had defeated the very objective of the Right To Information Act. She also reiterated her view that the appointment of new CIC was illegal.

In a statement here, Jayalalithaa said the purpose of making the Leader of the Opposition one of the members of the committee choosing the CIC was to ensure transparency in the entire process. But the government had failed to give her the information about those who were considered for the post of the CIC and the government had invited her just for a formality to impose its decision on her, Jayalalithaa added.

Stating that the DMK government’s action in the appointment of the CIC had ulterior motives, Jayalalithaa said had the government given her the details sought by her, she would have attended the meeting. But the government’s decision had given room for controversies.

It may be recalled that RTI activists had called on Jayalalithaa last week and asked her to thwart the attempt of the government to appoint the then Chief Secretary KS Sripathi as the next CIC. However, the government went ahead and made Sripathi the CIC by keeping its decision under the wraps till the last moment.