Should CIC have members from judicial background alone?
22 Jul, 2012Hearing a petition challenging the validity of section 12 of the RTI Act, 2005, the Supreme Court has asked the government not to appoint any more Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission (CIC) till it decides the matter. Section 12 of the RTI Act, 2005 deals with the appointment of Chief Information Commissioner and other Information Commissioners.
It has been argued in the petition that since the work of the Information Commission under the RTI act is mainly connected with the law, the members of the Information Commission should have legal background. The government has opposed the petition contending that since the function of the CIC is like a quasi-judicial body, it could not be made mandatory that the members should have judicial background. A Bench comprising Justices A K Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar of the Supreme Court reserved its verdict in the matter. Currently, three posts of Information Commissioners are lying vacant at CIC.