Times of India: Pune: Wednesday, 01 November 2023.
RTI activists said the state government should look beyond appointing retired IAS or IPS officers to fill vacancies in information commissions and instead appoint people of eminence from various domains, a day after the Supreme Court issued a directive in this regard to the central and state governments.
RTI activist and former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said that the selection of the commissioners should not be random appointments. Only people who understood the act and do not treat the appointment as “retirement posting” should be appointed, said Gandhi. The average age of the commissioners should be less than 60 and at least 40% should be RTI activists, he said.
In the state, out of the eight posts for commissioners, only four are occupied. Of them, one person is set to retire by the year-end. Activists have been demanding appointment of eleven commissioners. The state has 1.15 lakh appeals and complaints pending.
RTI activist and vice-president of AAP in the state Vijay Kumbhar said retired bureaucrats may have specific expertise in governance but do not have specific expertise in RTI law and policy. Experts in RTI law and policy, journalists, activists, and academicians should be considered for the post of information commissioner, Kumbhar added.
Activist Vihar Durve, added that the act under section 12 (5) and section 15 (5) mentions that chief information commissioners should be persons of eminence.
We also published the following articles recently
Odisha: RTI activist-turned-politician held in harassment case filed by Dutee ChandPradip Pradhan, an RTI activist-turned-politician, has been arrested by the Odisha Police in connection with a mental harassment case filed by sprinter Dutee Chand. Dutee had accused Pradhan and others of mentally harassing her for her poor performance in the Olympics. After no action was taken, she approached the Orissa High Court, which instructed the police to take legal action against Pradhan. Pradhan denies the allegations and claims that a false case has been registered against him in retaliation for FIRs filed by his political outfit against the Chief Minister and a former bureaucrat.
Fill up vacancies in CIC, state information commissions: Supreme Court to Centre, statesThe Supreme Court has directed the Centre and states to urgently fill vacancies in the Central Information Commission and state information commissions. The court emphasized that the Right to Information Act of 2005 would be rendered ineffective if these positions remain unfilled. The Department of Personnel and Training has been instructed to collect information from all states regarding the sanctioned strength, vacancies, and pending cases in the information commissions. The court granted three weeks for this information to be provided. This directive comes in response to a plea filed by RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj, who alleged non-compliance with the court's 2019 judgment on filling vacancies.
State appoints members for rights panel Desmond DCosta and Pramod Kamat, retired judges, have been appointed as members of the Goa Human Rights Commission. DCosta will act as the chairperson until a new one is appointed. The commission had been non-functional for six months with over 500 pending cases after the term of its previous chairperson, Justice U V Bakre, ended. The commission was established in 2011 to ensure that public officials do not violate human rights.
RTI activists said the state government should look beyond appointing retired IAS or IPS officers to fill vacancies in information commissions and instead appoint people of eminence from various domains, a day after the Supreme Court issued a directive in this regard to the central and state governments.
RTI activist and former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said that the selection of the commissioners should not be random appointments. Only people who understood the act and do not treat the appointment as “retirement posting” should be appointed, said Gandhi. The average age of the commissioners should be less than 60 and at least 40% should be RTI activists, he said.
In the state, out of the eight posts for commissioners, only four are occupied. Of them, one person is set to retire by the year-end. Activists have been demanding appointment of eleven commissioners. The state has 1.15 lakh appeals and complaints pending.
RTI activist and vice-president of AAP in the state Vijay Kumbhar said retired bureaucrats may have specific expertise in governance but do not have specific expertise in RTI law and policy. Experts in RTI law and policy, journalists, activists, and academicians should be considered for the post of information commissioner, Kumbhar added.
Activist Vihar Durve, added that the act under section 12 (5) and section 15 (5) mentions that chief information commissioners should be persons of eminence.
We also published the following articles recently
Odisha: RTI activist-turned-politician held in harassment case filed by Dutee ChandPradip Pradhan, an RTI activist-turned-politician, has been arrested by the Odisha Police in connection with a mental harassment case filed by sprinter Dutee Chand. Dutee had accused Pradhan and others of mentally harassing her for her poor performance in the Olympics. After no action was taken, she approached the Orissa High Court, which instructed the police to take legal action against Pradhan. Pradhan denies the allegations and claims that a false case has been registered against him in retaliation for FIRs filed by his political outfit against the Chief Minister and a former bureaucrat.
Fill up vacancies in CIC, state information commissions: Supreme Court to Centre, statesThe Supreme Court has directed the Centre and states to urgently fill vacancies in the Central Information Commission and state information commissions. The court emphasized that the Right to Information Act of 2005 would be rendered ineffective if these positions remain unfilled. The Department of Personnel and Training has been instructed to collect information from all states regarding the sanctioned strength, vacancies, and pending cases in the information commissions. The court granted three weeks for this information to be provided. This directive comes in response to a plea filed by RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj, who alleged non-compliance with the court's 2019 judgment on filling vacancies.
State appoints members for rights panel Desmond DCosta and Pramod Kamat, retired judges, have been appointed as members of the Goa Human Rights Commission. DCosta will act as the chairperson until a new one is appointed. The commission had been non-functional for six months with over 500 pending cases after the term of its previous chairperson, Justice U V Bakre, ended. The commission was established in 2011 to ensure that public officials do not violate human rights.
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