Appointment of Information Commissioners in UP stuck up
21 Sep, 2012In Uttar Pradesh (UP), the process of appointment of eight Information Commissioners has been held up following the Supreme Court judgment. Currently, the Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission has only two Information Commissioners apart from the Chief Information Commissioner. The two Information Commissioners Gyan Prakash Maurya and Khadijatul Kubra do not fulfill the criteria defined by the Supreme Court. Though Gyan Prakash Maurya is a lawyer, but his experience is less than 20 years, Khadijatul Kubra has the background of mass media and social work.
The panel was recommended as per the interpretation of the section 15(5) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act which says “The State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners shall be 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”.
The SC has ruled that Information Commissions shall work in benches of two members each, one of whom should be a “judicial member” and the other an “expert member”. A critique of the Supreme Court judgment regarding appointment at Information Commission has been given at - http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/critique-supreme-court-judgment-regarding-appointm-2297
It has been reported that a panel of names was sent to Raj Bhavan last month and the Governor has called for the background of the panelists.