Former UP Chief Information Commissioner commits suicide
16 Jun, 2012Former Chief Information Commissioner of the Uttar Pradesh State Information (SIC) M A Khan committed suicide by jumping from his apartment at Lucknow. He allegedly was under treatment for depression for more than a year and jumped from his fourth floor house at Awadh Apartment in Gomti Nagar police station area while his family members were asleep.
Khan is survived by his wife, Shams Jahan Begum, and three children — Anwar, Munawwar and Heena. He had become more depressed after the death of their son Kishwar in October last year due to liver ailments.
Khan was a law graduate and had worked for seven years as a district judge. Subsequently, in 1999, he was elevated as permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court from where he retired in November, 2005. Later, he was appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner of SIC in March 2006, by the then Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
During a hearing on his application regarding the money spent on the Ambedkar memorial, Khan had likened it to Taj Mahal, which was widely reported by media. In July 2008, the process of his removal was initiated by making a reference to the Supreme Court for holding an inquiry into the charges by the then Governor TV Rajeshwar. The charges against Khan were that he made appointments in the commission without following the prescribed procedure, and that he made derogatory remarks against Mayawati, the then Cabinet Secretary, and the then Chief Secretary during the hearing of a matter, and that he conducted himself autocratically towards other State Information Commissioners. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had stayed his suspension on November 15, 2008. Khan joined office the very next day, and submitted his resignation which was, however, not accepted. On appeal by the state government, the Supreme Court stayed the HC order, and technically Khan remained under suspension, though he was due to retire on November 30, 2008.