Times
of India: New Delhi: Sunday, 12 October 2014.
For the first
time in 10 years of the RTI act the Central Information Commission (CIC) is
headless after the retirement of chief information commissioner Rajiv Mathur on
August 22. A petition urging PM Narendra Modi to appoint the CIC has gained
some traction garnering over 15,500 signatures in the last few weeks.
The delay in
appointing a new chief is severely hampering the working of the commission. Not
only is there a huge backlog with close to 25,000 appeals and complaints
pending, but the commission's orders can be challenged in a court in the
absence of the chief.
The petition
initiated by National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI)'s
Nikhil Dey, Anjali Bharadwaj and Amrita Johri points out, "This
ever-increasing backlog of cases challenges the citizen's fundamental Right to
Information and creates roadblocks in fighting corruption, big and small. PM
Modi, you have often stressed on 'anti-corruption' and 'quest for transparency'
as the driving forces of your good governance program. How can then such a key
institution to fight corruption remain rudderless?"
Demanding
that the position be filled immediately Bharadwaj said, that according to media
reports, the delay in appointing a new chief is because there is no leader of
opposition. However, the RTI Act clearly states that in the absence of a leader
of opposition, the leader of the single largest opposition party should be part
of the committee to appoint the new chief.
.JPG)
.JPG)
