Rising Kashmir: Srinagar: Wednesday, September 13, 2017.
The High
Court has stayed the order passed by State Information Commission (SIC) against
the nonappearance of its Public Information Officer (PIO) before the Commission
in a Right to Information (RTI) case.
The HC bench
of Justice M K Hanjura ordered that till the next date of listing before the
Bench, the operation of the impugned order dated 16 August 2017 that the
Commission has taken a “serious view over non-appearance of the PIO of J&K
High Court’’ shall remain stayed.
The
petitioner had approached the court when the order dated 16 October was passed
against him by the Chief Information Commissioner, JKSIC, Srinagar in the
second appeal titled Ajay Kumar versus FAA/PIO, J&K High Court, Srinagar.
The order of
the Commission read, “The second appeal was listed for hearing before the State
Information Commission today on 16 August, 2017. N.A. Beigh, counsel for the
respondents attended the hearing.’’
The
commission had adjourned the case for non-appearance of the PIO of J&K High
Court in the hearing of the second appeal. “The case is adjourned with
directions to registry to convey the observations of the State Information
Commission (SIC) to the PIO J&K High Court for his non-appearance before
the Commission and impress upon him to ensure his attendance in the hearings of
the Commission as and when the cases pertaining to the J&K High Court are
listed for hearing,” read the order.
N.A.Beigh
counsel for petitioner stated before the High Court that the order is against
the cannons of law. He said, “The Information Commissioner has to weigh the
pros and cons of each appeal on its own merits and form a rational and an
objective opinion before passing any order. The State Information Commission is
not vested with unbridled powers to pass sweeping orders. It is bound by law.
It cannot travel beyond its jurisdiction and doing so does not auger well.”
He stated
that in consonance with section 15 (3) of Right to Information Act, State
Information Commissioner has the power to summon and enforce the attendance of
persons only for the purpose of giving oral or written evidence on oath and for
producing documents, requiring the discovery and inspection of documents,
receiving evidence on affidavit, requisitioning any public record or copies
thereof from any court or office, issuing summons for examination of witnesses
or documents and any other matter which may be prescribed. He stated that “In
the instant case nothing of this nature was required to be done by the Public
Information Officer or First Appellant Authority of the High Court.”
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