RTI queries on hold as Kerala govt fails to pick commissioners

Times of India: THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Friday, 18 September 2015.

The State Information Commission (SIC) is reeling under a huge pendency of complaints and second appeals as four posts out of the six information commissioners are vacant--three commissioners have retired and one is under suspension.

As of now, around 10,000 second RTI appeals and complaints are pending before the SIC.

With C S Sasikumar set to retire at the end of the year there will be only one information commissioner left--the chief information commissioner Siby Mathews.

The tenure of three information commissioners ended in 2015--Soni Thengamom (from 10-08-2010 to 10-08-2015), Dr Kurias Kumbalakuzhy (13-06-2012 to 20-03-2015) and M N Gunavardhanan (10-08-2010 to 15-04-2015)--but there have been no replacements till now.

K Natarajan, who began his stint as commissioner on 23-04-2011, was suspended following a vigilance enquiry against him as he had allegedly tried to interfere with the vigilance investigation pertaining to gifting government land by CPM leader V S Achuthanandan to his relative when he was chief minister. Sources told TOI that Natarajan, although under suspension, would have drawn subsistence allowance to the tune of Rs 30L till date.

It is being suggested by observers of the RTI scene in the state that the UDF government wants to anoint their candidates as information commissioners but is hampered by the Supreme Court order which calls for greater transparency into the SIC appointments.

The Supreme Court has ruled that appointments of information commissioners should be done after preparing a panel and more importantly after giving due notice. "Empanelling the names proposed for SIC should be at least three times the number of vacancies existing in the commission and the names so empanelled, with the relevant record should be placed before the high powered committee. The selection process should be commenced at least three months prior to the occurrence of the vacancy,'' said the SC bench of A K Patnaik and A K Sikri.

RTI activist D B Binu said the Central Information Commission has followed the SC order in its recent appointments and the SIC too is bound to do it or it will tantamount to contempt of the SC order.

"The government should select candidates who have no party affiliations, having in depth knowledge about the RTI Act and have a clean record or else the orders will be partisan in nature,'' he said.