Contempt notice issued to the government for not appointing Information Commissioners
10 May, 2012Hearing a contempt petition filed by RTI activist R.K. Jain, the Delhi High Court has issued a contempt notice to the government for the alleged failure to fill up all the posts of Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission (CIC) in compliance with the court's earlier two orders passed in February and March this year.
Hearing the petitioner who was represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan and Pranav Sachdeva, Justice Vipin Sanghi directed the Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), to file a status report by July 30. The next hearing is also scheduled on the same date.
There are two vacancies in the Commission while another commissioner shall be retiring in July 2012. Currently, there are about 30,000 appeals pending with the Central Information Commission (CIC) and nearly 500 appeals per month are adding to it. After the order of the High Court, three Information Commissioners have been appointed.