HC orders notice to Govt on CIC's appointment

Jeeva, TNN, Dec 4, 2010,

CHENNAI: The Madras high court on Friday ordered issuing of notice to Tamil Nadu government on a writ petition challenging the appointment of retired IAS official KS Sripathi as the chief information commissioner (CIC) of the state as there was "no transperancy" in the selection process.

Justice N Paul Vasantha Kumar ordered the notice, asking the government to file its counter within two weeks while admitting for hearing the petition, jointly filed by two right to information (RTI) activists V Madhav, a software engineer in Alwarpet, and Siva Elango of Saidapet.

While Sripathi, who is former Tamil Nadu chief secretary, was appointed as the CIC on September 1, 2010, the petitioners said there was a news report in The Times of India on August 5 itself stating that he could become the CIC whereas the selection committee meeting was held only on August 23.

Stating that the government had violated every concept of transperancy in the appointment process, the petition said opposition leader J Jayalalithaa did not attend the selection committee meeting saying that she was not given the list of names of the candidates who were considered for the post.

Three activists including the petitioners staged a protest, condemning the lack of transperancy in the CIC's appointment, in front of Raj Bhavan on the day when Sripathi was sworn in as the CIC. The agitators were picked up by the police and released later.

While a number of RTI activists from across the state had been urging the government to evolve a clear and transperant procedure to fill up the vacancy of the CIC, the authorities have not given any notification inviting applications from eligible candidates for the post, the petitioners said.

They said if the government had adopted such a procedure, several people who satisfied the criteria for appointment as the CIC could have applied for the post. In the absence of any procedure, no decision making process appeared to have involved in the selection committee meeting, they said.

The sequence of events leading to Sripathi's selection clearly showed that his appointment was "predetermined and preconceived" and against the provisions of Right To Information Act and principles of natural justice, the petitioners said.

They prayed the court to set aside his appointment and also restrain Sripathi from functioning as the CIC till the disposal of their petition.