Times of India: Panaji:
Sunday, April 14, 2013.
With the post
of state information commissioner and the post of chief state information
commissioner falling vacant, pendency of cases has been piling in the Goa state
information commission.
According to
official information, the pendency is as follows; total appeals pending are
506, total complaints pending are 440 and total penalty cases pending are 129.
The post of
state information commissioner fell vacant on September 13, 2012 and the post
of chief state information commissioner fell vacant on July 30, 2012.
Asked whether
the government will consider appointment of eligible candidates for the vacant
posts to provide relief to the RTI applicants, official sources blamed the
Supreme Court judgment dated September 13, 2012 in No (c)210/2012 having caused
a deadlock vis-a-vis the statutory provisions contained in the RTI Act with
regard to the appointment of state information commissioner and chief state information
commissioner.
They said
that the criteria laid down by the Supreme Court are not in consonance with the
statutory provisions, i.e. section 12(5) and section 15(5) of the Act,
especially in view of the fact that the constitutional validity of the said
sections has been upheld by the apex court. Government of India has already
filed a review petition in the matter and the Goa government is awaiting its
outcome in order to take further course of action, sources said.
.JPG)
.JPG)
