CIC members refuse to declare assets in public

[MOHANDAS]

There is no law by which I.Cs/Judges etc. should declare their assets. It is true. But what's the harm in declaring their assets setting a moral to be followed for others. Why these high profile functionaries are declining to take the matter in its right perspective and declare their assets.

There is no law binding them to delcare their assets. At the same time What is the harm in doing so and setting a morale. "Jo kartha hi, woh kahatha nahi hi - Jo kahatha hi woh kartha nahi hi. Very strange. First try to weed out corruption from the TOP, then the bottom will automatically set right.

MOHANDAS.

[karira]

Sponsorer

Way back in December 2008, CIC had received a email from Mr Vihar Durve of Pune regarding property declaration of Information Commissioners and putting them up on the website of the CIC.

In that meeting it had been decided that the CIC will seek from the Election Commission, the practice that is being followed by them in this matter.

It seems that 18 months down the line, CIC is still waiting !

That is what Mr Vihar Durve found out in a second appeal hearing.

The CIC has referred the matter of disclosure of IC SG's property declaration to IC SG under Sec 11 of the RTI Act, before it can be disclosed to the applicant.

Wonder what is the purpose in invoking Sec 11, if the information is already in the public domain: http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...dhi_assets.gif




The full order is attached to this post.

[Atul Patankar]

As reported by Mayank Agarwal at dnaindia.com on July 29, 2010

[CENTER]Is Central Information Commission at war with itself?[/CENTER]

Hailed for freeing the common man from the clutches of the bureaucracy, the Central Information Commission (CIC) now seems to be stuck in the same muddle.

In 2008, when Mumbai-based Right to Information (RTI) activist Shailesh Gandhi took charge as information commissioner at the CIC, he furnished his property details to CIC chief Wajahat Habibullah for uploading on the commission’s website.

However, it was not uploaded. Subsequently, at a CIC meeting in 2008, a decision was taken to get the information on what other commissions are doing regarding details of assets. It thrice sought such information from the Election Commission (EC) to determine its practice, but the EC is yet to respond to the query.

Pune-based RTI activist Vihar Durve has also sought the property details of all information commissioners at the CIC, including Gandhi, from the commission itself. But failing to get a satisfactory reply, he filed another appeal before the CIC.

During the hearing, Durve said he was in correspondence with Gandhi, who has no objection to disclosing his property details. Such disclosure, according to Durve, is in public interest, particularly in light of action taken by the Supreme Court, it would be noteworthy that property statement of information commissioners be placed on the CIC website.

However, CIC chief Wajahat Habibullah said in his order, “On the question of disclosure of Gandhi’s property statement, Gandhi is a third party and therefore, his agreement to disclosure of this information will be sought within next 5 days.”

Habibullah also directed a CIC official “to expedite the process of obtaining feedback to the reference made to the EC to enable the commission to take a decision in the matter of property statements of information commissioners.”

[karira]

As reported by Himanshi Dhawan in The Times of India, Hyderabad Edition, on 29 July 2010:
Article Window

CIC reluctant to disclose assets of info commissioners
18 Months After RTI Plea, Says Issue With EC For Referral

New Delhi: After preaching transparency to the whole country, Central Information Commission appears to have trouble following its own diktat.

Over 18 months after it received an RTI query asking for wealth declaration of information commissioners, CIC continues to withhold the information on the pretext that it has sought advice from Election Commission. Incidentally, of the nine information commissioners and one chief information commissioner, so far only one, Shailesh Gandhi, has made his list of assets public.

In an order passed on Monday, chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said since Gandhi had already expressed willingness to disclose his income details, the information could be made public after getting his consent. Habibullah said as Gandhi was recognised as a “third party” under the RTI Act, his consent was required. For the rest, the commission has sought the EC’s advice.

The directions came after Pune-based Vihar Durve filed an RTI plea in November 2008 asking for declaration of information relating to assets. CIC CPIO Tarun Kumar said the matter was discussed among the commissioners but no such information was maintained by the CIC. Aggrieved by the response, Durve filed an appeal referring to larger public interest as a justification for disclosure of such information. Contesting these arguments, Durve filed a second appeal. Kumar in response said CIC had made a reference to EC thrice but a response was still awaited. Habibullah, in his order, asked his office to expedite the matter of obtaining the necessary feedback. The delay in disclosure of assets indicates the internal differences within the commission as is evident from the orders of various information commissioners. While IC Shailesh Gandhi has given several orders recognising that government officials must make their wealth declaration public, other commissioners have been reluctant to follow suit. In fact, most see this disclosure as invasion of privacy. Ironically, CIC has recognised the office of the Chief Justice of India and elected representatives as public authorities.

[karira]

This seems to be a case of "I will do it, only if someone else does it first"

Why is the CIC waiting for the EC at all ? It should take a decision on its own as to what policy it wants to follow, regarding disclosure of assets.