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RTI activists seek Govt intervention GR Sufi retires, SIC defunct 2/29/2016 11:48:13 PM Early Times Report Jammu, Feb 29: As State Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) G R Sufi retired today after completing his term in the State Information Commission (SIC) , the SIC has almost become defunct as one Information Commissioner (IC) shall now have to look after RTI related complaints and appeals from all parts of the state. RTI Activists have appealed to the Governor for immediate intervention as absence of Information Commissioners will make SIC non functional. Details available with Early Times reveal that G R Sufi State Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) retired today after completing his 5 year term in SIC . Earlier another Information Commissioner Dr S K Sharma who looked after cases pertaining to Jammu division also retired in October. It was hoped that PDP-BJP coalition Government would appoint new commissioner after consulting the leader of opposition, but that didn't happen for months when the Government collapsed aftermath of CM Mufti Mohammad Syed's death. "As per the provisions of J&K RTI Act 2009 the Information Commissioners and Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) can only be appointed by the Governor when the selection committee consisting of CM , Leader of Opposition , and one cabinet Minister nominated by CM recommends the suitable candidate. But as of now we don't have an elected Government so it is very difficult to say how Governor will appoint new CIC or IC. In my opinion the Governor can issue an ordinance which would pave a way for allowing present CIC G R Sufi to continue for some time till the new appointments are made. If we do not take appropriate steps RTI will die a silent death in Jammu & Kashmir ," said Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat Founder -Convener Jammu Kashmir RTI Movement. "It is very sad that the elected Government could not shortlist the names of probable Information Commissioners after Dr S K Sharma retired in October 2015. They had almost 3 months until death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Syed to appoint new Information Commissioner. Now it is very difficult to say how to handle this situation as state is put under Governors rule " said Balvinder Singh Convenor Sangharh RTI Movement. Pertinent to mention that Supreme Court's double bench comprising Justices J S Khehar and C Nagappan while disposing off a similar petition few months back said that it has already granted the time sought by the Centre, which should appoint the Information Commissioner (ICs) at Central Information Commission New Delhi. The bench was hearing the plea of the central government filed against the November 6 Delhi High Court order asking it to appoint three Information Commissioners at Central Information Commission New Delhi. The Delhi High Court had also asked the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to fill up the vacancies within 6 weeks from among the 553 applications received by it in response to two notifications issued in 2014 as the vacant posts have led to a massive backlog of cases. The Delhi High Court's order had come on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by noted RTI activists Commodore (Rtd) Lokesh K Batra , Subhash Chandra Agarwal and R K Jain. The activists had alleged that no action has been taken on the issue despite two "distress" letters written by CIC to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The PIL filed in the High Court through noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan had sought filling up of posts of Information Commissioners and subordinate staff in stipulated time.   Share This News with Your Friends on Social Network     Comment on this Story

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