IC appointment in maze of queries


REPORTED by pranav pratyush in daily pioneer.com on 17 september 2012
IC appointment in maze of queries

Jharkhand urgently needs new Information Commissioners (ICs) to assist Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Justice (retd) DK Sinha. The posts have been lying vacant for long, though a three-member committee for selection of ICs is said to have finalised a few names.

However, the panel’s recommendations seem to be drawing flak from all quarters due to one reason or another.
If sources are to be believed, the whole appointment process may soon get nullified in the wake of the recent Supreme Court order that suggests recruitment of ICs from a judicial background as they execute quasi-judicial duties.

The panel, headed by the Chief Minister and comprising of the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and Revenue & Land Reforms Minister Mathura Mahto, is said to have finalised four names.

However, among the four — Rajesh Srivastava, Himanshu Chaudhary, Sanchita Tiwari and PR Das — only Das boasts a judicial background, having worked as the Registrar General of the Jharkhand High Court.

While Srivastava has remained a businessman, Chaudhary used to be Press advisor to JMM supremo Shibu Soren in Delhi. Tiwari is said to be a member of the consumer forum in Garhwa.

Although the recommendations of the panel are yet to be converted into a Government notification, the decision has already attracted huge criticism.

Sources hinted that except Das, the remaining trio has been included on the list because of political lineage within the Congress and JMM.

“This is basically abusing the set guidelines of the RTI Act. You cannot pick up any Tom, Dick and Harry for the IC’s post. Even before the Supreme Court’s verdict, it was clear that persons fit for the post should be experts of their fields and should have a prominent place in public life. But you cannot pick a businessman or a broker-like scribe,” said a senior advocate of Jharkhand High Court.

Many call the whole appointment process a sham. They say there was no advertisement for the posts and no transparency maintained in the selection.

The president of the State Bar Council led a delegation of advocates to meet the Governor and present a memorandum describing the situation. The Governor had assured them he would look into the matter but people from the legal fraternity are still wary of the outcome.

The apex court, hearing writ petition Namit Sharma versus Union of India, on September 13, stated, “…Appointments of legally qualified, judicially-trained and experienced persons would certainly manifest in more effective serving of the ends of justice.” It had further stated that it was an unquestionable proposition of law that the commission (Information Commission) was a ‘judicial tribunal’, performing functions of judicial as well as quasi-judicial nature and having the trappings of a court.

“It will be just, fair and proper that the first appellate authority (that is, the senior officers to be nominated in terms of Section 5 of the Act of 2005) preferably should be the persons possessing a degree in law or having adequate knowledge and experience in the field of law,” the apex court had observed.

In light of the Supreme Court instructions, it is very likely that the process of the appointment of ICs will be stalled and start afresh so the State gets ‘suitable’ and ‘efficient’ ICs to protect the law.