New Delhi, Oct 27: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to issue a directive for public disclosure of the names of candidates shortlisted for the post of chief information commissioner and information commissioners in the Central Information Commission.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, however, directed states, including Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh, to immediately try to fill up the vacant posts in the state information commissions.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner Anjali Bhardwaj and others, submitted that governments were “trying to kill the Right to Information Act” by making information commissions defunct.
He submitted that the Central Information Commission is currently without its chief, and eight out of 10 posts of information commissioners are vacant.
“The backlog of cases in the CIC is nearly 30,000,” he submitted, and pointed out the violation of earlier orders of the apex court, where it was directed that all vacant posts should be filled up directly.
Bhushan sought direction to the Centre that the names of those shortlisted should be put in the public domain for inviting any objections.
Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, said the search committee has shortlisted certain names for the post of chief information commissioner and information commissioners, and now they have been recommended to the panel headed by the prime minister.
He said the panel headed by the prime minister is likely to clear the names in the next two to three weeks and no direction be issued.
Bhushan vehemently requested the bench to direct the Centre to disclose the shortlisted names, saying people have the right to know whether the right people have been selected.
The bench directed all states, where there is a vacancy, to fill up the posts expeditiously and posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.
“We are not disposing of the matter but will hear it every two weeks to ensure compliance with directions,” Justice Kant said.
Senior advocate Arunabh Choudhary, appearing for the Jharkhand government, submitted that there was a delay in starting the appointment process as there was no leader of the opposition in the legislative assembly. But now, the process has begun, he said and assured the top court that all the vacant posts will be filled expeditiously.
On January 7, the top court took a dim view of the vacancies in the Central Information Commission and state information commissions as it directed the Centre to immediately fill the posts.
Seeking an expeditious selection of information commissioners in the CIC, the apex court had told the Centre that these posts need to be filled at the earliest.
It had criticised the appointments being made only from a particular category of candidates in the CIC and SICs, and mulled taking a judicial note of the fact that only bureaucrats are considered for the appointment in these commissions instead of people from all walks of life.
Bhardwaj and others have submitted that in 2019, the apex court issued seminal directions for filling of posts in the CIC and SICs, but states delayed the selection process and virtually killed the Right to Information Act.
On November 26, 2024, the top court took a stern view on the matter and asked the Centre and states to apprise it of the steps taken to fill the posts.
Since February 2019, the apex court has passed several directions on the need for timely appointments to the transparency watchdog by the Centre and states. It observed that in Jharkhand, Tripura and Telangana, the SICs had become virtually defunct, as there were no information commissioners.
On October 30, 2023, the top court issued a similar directive, noting the 2005 Right to Information law would become a “dead letter” otherwise.
Bhardwaj’s plea said the Centre and states did not follow the apex court’s 2019 judgement on the issues, including timely filling posts in CIC and SICs.
The top court in December 2019 directed the Centre and state governments to appoint information commissioners in CIC and SICs within three months and asked authorities concerned to publish the names of members of the committee on the selection panel and appointment of information commissioners at the CIC on their websites.
The apex court said information officers should include people of eminence from varied fields. (PTI)
