Activists writes to Governor, CM Fadnavis; demands transparency in information heads' appointment

DNA‎‎‎‎: Mumbai: Friday, August 19, 2016.

In a letter to the Governor and the Chief Minister, a Right To Information (RTI) activist has sought transparency in appointment of Information Commissioners. At present, three posts for information commissioners are lying vacant.

State Chief Information Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad has already written to CM Devendra Fadnavis to fill up the three posts in Amravati, Nashik and Aurangabad, so as to lessen the burden on the commission. As of now, over 37149 second appeals are pending, with some of them as old as 2013. An applicant is expected to get information within 30 days from the date of application.

The post of Information Commissioner has been much sought after by many former bureaucrats. At present, there are over 20 applicants for the post, including former Additional Chief Secretary of General Administration Department, PS Meena, and Transport Commissioner Shyam Vardhane. Activists have often accused Information Commissioners of apathy towards transparency and upholding the spirit of the RTI Act, because the post is being seen as a post-retirement job.

In his letter to the Governor (the appointing authority) and the CM (who heads the committee that proposes names of Information Commissioners to the Governor), Kumbhar attached judgments of courts to press his point.

"In the Namit Sharma case, the Supreme Court and the High Court have stated that there should be transparency and due procedure should be followed before the appointment of information commissioners. In the petition, the state government has said that the appointment procedure was being formulated. They should not make appointments discreetly," Kumbhar said.

He added, "Retired officers do not want competition to come in their way of becoming Information Commissioners. Hence, they do not formulate a policy or publish advertisements for the posts of Information Commissioners. The court has asked them to lay down the procedure, including giving out advertisements."

Meanwhile, the Governor's office said they were yet to receive any letter from Kumbhar or a file for appointment of Information Commissioners. Fadnavis said, "We will follow all procedures for appointment. Yes, they (Meena and Vardhane) have applied for the post." He added that the final names have not been decided yet.