The Tribune: Jammu Kashmir: Tuesday, August 21, 2018.
Appeals and
complaints at both Srinagar and Jammu offices of the J&K State Information
Commission (SIC) have been piling up since it became headless on June 28.
Khurshid
Ahmad Ganai, former Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), resigned from the
post on June 28. He was appointed Adviser to the Governor on June 30. This was
for the second time in less than two years that the commission has become
headless.
“The
complaints and appeals are piling up at both the offices of the commission, as
the SIC has a lone Information Commissioner (IC), Mohammad Ashraf Mir, who
looks after the affairs of commission. This is grave injustice to the RTI
appellants and complainants, who are made to wait for months before their case
is listed for hearing,” said sources.
Ganai, a
retired IAS officer, was appointed state CIC on February 27, 2017. Before his
appointment, the commission had been non-functional since November 2016 after
the lone Information Commissioner, Nazir Ahmed, completed his term.
According to
Section 12 of the J&K RTI Act, 2009, the CIC and two ICs shall be appointed
by the Governor on the recommendation of the committee comprising the CM, who
shall be the chairperson of the committee, the Leader of Opposition in the
Legislative Assembly and a cabinet minister nominated by the CM. In case the
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly has not been recognised, the leader of the
single largest group in the opposition in theAssembly shall be deemed to be the
Leader of Opposition.
“We met the
Adviser to Governor last week and suggested amendments to the RTI Act. We
suggested that the Governor should bring an ordinance to appoint SIC and ICs
directly in absence of government,” said Raman Sharma, an activist.
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