Times
of India: Aurangabad: Thursday, 17 December 2015.
The RTI
community here has refused to buy the explanation furnished by the state
general administration department (GAD), which has stated that the matter pertaining
to the appointment of commissioner for Aurangabad bench of the State
Information Commission (SIC) is subjudice.
While
responding to a TOI query on when the concerned post will be filled, the GAD
has said, "The matter is subjudice in honorable high court, Bombay.
However, we have requested the court through attorney general, Maharashtra to
allow the state government to fill up the post as per existing procedure. We
cannot give you the deadline."
Senior RTI
activists, however, said no such case is pending in the high court, and the
department has furnished misleading information as a time-killing tactic.
Senior officials associated with the Aurangabad bench of the SIC have also said
that they were in dark about any such legal issue.
Mumbai-based
former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi accused the GAD of
misleading citizens as well as the chief minister. "One case related to
powers of transfer of information commissioners to the state chief information
commissioner is pending before the Bombay high court. But it does not have any
bearing on fresh appointments of information commissioners at vacant
benches."
Echoing
similar views, senior RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar said the government has no
legal hurdles in making necessary appointments except will power.
"The RTI
community in the state has created different online platforms, which discuss
any development associated with the transparency act. We can confidently say
that no such case is pending in the high court, which would prove obstacle in
making appointments at SIC benches. The GAD reply is a skin-saving tactic to
parry media query," he said.
Criticising
the government for not making appointments of information commissioners in due
time, the RTI community has alleged that the transparency act is nobody's child
due to the regime of transparency and accountability it mandates.
"The RTI
Act continues to suffer due to apathy from ruling parties. It is not that the
government is unaware about the vacuum at the top of Aurangabad bench, but it
is deliberately ignoring things. Ideally, the government should have at least
initiated the process for making appointment on the post of information
commissioner at Aurangabad bench as it has been lying vacant for more than
three months now," Kumbhar said.
TOI has been
consistently reporting about how the process of RTI implementation is getting
hit due to lack of full-time commissioner for SIC Aurangabad bench. The
pendency of second appeal has already crossed 2,500-mark.
Officials at
the Aurangabad SIC said pendency of second appeals had gone above 2,700-mark,
but hearings conducted by the Nagpur SIC commissioner has brought it down to
some extent. VD Patil (information commissioner with Nagpur bench), held four
hearings so far, disposing of around 50 appeals in each sitting. He also
conducted a special redressal camp in Nanded district from November 30 to
December 5, where around 500 appeals were disposed of, a senior official said.
Top GAD
officials could not be reached for their comments. A three-member panel,
comprising the governor, chief minister and the leader of the opposition, ensures
appointment of information commissioners in Maharashtra. TOI tried to contact
the office of the governor to know whether any process for making the
appointment has been initiated, but to no avail.
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