With the HC demanding records from state government, appointment of information commissioners by Kamal Nath government has come under judicial scrutiny. Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notice to state government and has summoned record related with appointments of chief information commissioner and two other information commissioners.
Justice Nandita Dubey issued notice on a petition filed by social activist Rupali Dubey on Wednesday. The petition states that appointment of information commissioners was done in violation of law.
According to Supreme Court order, it is mandatory to constitute a search committee that shortlists applications on merit basis. All this process should remain transparent and made public on government website, says the RTI Act. A selection committee headed by CM Kamal Nath with leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava and Urban Administration Department Jaivardhan Singh as its members held a meeting on February 20 to select a chief information commissioner besides two information commissioners. The committee had also conveyed its decision to the Governor.
Registrar general of high court Arvind Kumar Shukla was selected as chief information commissioner while retired IFS G Krishnamurthy and journalist Rahul Singh were selected as information commissioners. However, oath ceremony could not be held till date owing to enforcement of model code of conduct in view of Lok Sabha elections. State government has asked the election commission to permit swearing-in ceremony of the commissioners. Though the petition in High Court may not affect oath taking ceremony but their appointments will remain subject to final order of the court.
