[list-milap-03] Re: Govt clears 5 names as Central Information Commissioners

Govt clears 5 names as information commissioners:-
TNN Nov 12, 2013, 03.26AM IST

NEW DELHI: The government is said to have

NEW DELHI: The government is said to have  cleared five names for appointment as information commissioners in the Central Information Commission (CIC). With these appointments, CIC will have 10 commissioners again.

Sources said the names cleared include Yashovardhan Azad, an IPS officer who had a long stint with the Intelligence Bureau before joining as secretary (security) in the cabinet secretariat, Indian Foreign Service officer Sharat Sabharwal and Manjula Parashar, a 1975-batch Indian Postal Service officer who also held the position of secretary, department of posts.

Madabhushi Sridhar (Acharyulu), a writer on law and journalism and author of 26 books on these topics, is also believed to be on the list, sources said. M A Khan Yusufi, a retired joint secretary of the law ministry, is also believed to have been cleared.

Sources said a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took place where these names are understood to have been cleared.

The CIC has four information commissioners at present besides the chief information commissioner.

The commission has a backlog of 20,000 cases and it is expected that the new appointees, who will take oath this week, will help clear this.

Supreme Court Judgment dated 12/11/2013 holding that Registration of FIR is mandatory

In the Writ Petition (Criminal) NO. 68 OF 2008, in the matter of Lalita Kumari Versus- Govt. of U.P. & Ors. the Hon’ble Supreme Could hold:

(i) Registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code, if the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary inquiry is permissible in such a situation.

(ii) If the information received does not disclose a cognizable offence but indicates the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to ascertain whether cognizable offence is disclosed or not.

(iii) If the inquiry discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, the FIR must be registered. In cases where preliminary inquiry ends in closing the complaint, a copy of the entry of such closure must be supplied to the first informant forthwith and not later than one week. It must disclose reasons in   brief for closing the complaint and not proceeding further.

(iv) The police officer cannot avoid his duty of registering offence if cognizable offence is disclosed.

Action must be taken against erring officers who do not register the FIR if information received by him discloses a cognizable offence.

(v) The scope of preliminary inquiry is not to verify the veracity or otherwise of the information received but only to ascertain whether the information reveals any cognizable offence.

(vi) As to what type and in which cases preliminary inquiry is to be conducted will depend on the facts and circumstances of each case. The category of cases in which preliminary inquiry may be made are as under:

(a)Matrimonial disputes/ family disputes

(b)Commercial offences

(c) Medical negligence cases

(d)Corruption cases

(e) Cases where there is abnormal delay/laches in initiating criminal prosecution, for example, over 3 months delay in reporting the matter without satisfactorily explaining the reasons for delay.

The aforesaid are only illustrations and not exhaustive of all conditions which may warrant preliminary inquiry.

(vii) While ensuring and protecting the rights of the accused and the complainant, a preliminary inquiry should be made time bound and in any case it should not exceed 7 days. The fact of such delay and the causes of it must be reflected in the General Diary entry.

(viii) Since the General Diary/Station Diary/Daily Diary is the record of all information received in a police station, we direct that all information relating to cognizable offences, whether resulting in registration of FIR or leading to an inquiry, must be mandatorily and meticulously reflected in the said Diary and the decision to conduct a preliminary inquiry must also be reflected, as mentioned above.

 

TRUTH SHALL ALWAYS PREVAIL
Milap Choraria: National Convenor : Movement for Accountability to Public (MAP)
http://milapchoraria.tripod.com/msp