Government starts appointment process for ICs

find original RTI reply and news at
http://upcpri.blogspot.in/2013/07/government-starts-appointment-process.html
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Neha Shukla, TNN | Jul 5, 2013, 03.25 PM IST

LUCKNOW: Acting on the directions of the high court to fill all the
vacant posts of the information commissioners within three months, UP
government has started the process for appointment of information
commissioners (ICs) in the UP State Information Commission (UPSIC).
The government has started the process of appointment "as per the
directions of the high court and the Supreme Court order".

The under-secretary, UP government, Bhavesh Ranjan said, "The process
to appoint ICs is on at the high level." The state government has been
waiting to appoint the information commissioners since July 2012 when
eight posts of ICs got vacant due to retirement of ICs. The Supreme
Court order of September 2012 saying "only sitting or retired HC
judges should be preferred in appointment of information
commissioners" further delayed the appointment of ICs.

While the government continued with the flip-flop in appointment,
pendency of RTI applications at UPSIC headed northwards. By the end of
March 2013 more than 45,000 applications were pending at the
commission, up from 35,000 pending in March 2012.


The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court, on April 15, came to
the rescue of the RTI Act in UP and directed the state government to
fill vacant posts of ICs within three months and furnish the report
before it. The court refuted the government's contention that it was
not making appointments owing to pendency of a review application in
the Supreme Court.

On the other hand, the Supreme Court, on April 16, stayed its
seven-month-old controversial order directing governments to appoint
retired SC and HC judges as heads of Information Commissions. The UP
government, therefore, started the appointment process. It said in an
RTI response to Urvashi Sharma that appointment is being done in
accordance with the order of the court.

At present, ICs are appointed by the governor on the recommendation of
a committee chaired by the chief minister and including the leader of
opposition in the legislative assembly and a cabinet minister
nominated by the chief minister. As laid down under the RTI Act,
persons of "eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience
in law, science and technology, social service, management,
journalism, mass media or administration and governance" should be
appointed as ICs.

UPSIC has a strength of ten ICs and a Chief Information Commissioner
(CIC). The commission, at present, has only two ICs and the CIC
hearing the cases. The four of the commissioners got their terms over
in 2011. There were no appointments made against the vacancies at that
time.

Another four got their terms over in July 2012. Though the RTI Act
does not specify as to within how much time of an IC getting retired
should the new appointment be made, considering that UP has huge RTI
pendency, new appointments should be made soon.