Government moves the Supreme Court for review of verdict on RTI panels
15 Oct, 2012The Central Government has sought a review of the Supreme Court judgment in the case of Namit Sharma vide which it was directed to constitute a bench of two information commissioners for hearing a case by the Information Commission of the centre or the state. The judgment directs the government to appoint people with judicial background as the information commissioner. There was a call for challenging the verdict by many organisations and the Central Government moved the Supreme Court on 11th October seeking the review of its order. This site had earlier reported that the centre was going to file a review. Link - http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/centre-likely-contest-sc-judgment-regarding-appoin-2294
In its review petition, the government has argued that the Apex Court could not have directed it or the parliament to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The petition filed by the government says that the judgment runs contrary to the RTI Act, 2005. The Apex court judgment in the Namit Sharma case held: "There is an absolute necessity for the legislature to reword or amend the provisions of Section 12(5), 12(6) and 15(5), 15(6) of the Act. We observe and hope that these provisions would be amended at the earliest by the legislature to avoid any ambiguity or impracticability and to make it in consonance with the constitutional mandates."