Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy will consult the advocate-general and the Union ministry of personnel on the objections raised by Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan over the names of four of the eight nominees recommended by the selection committee to be appointed as information commissioners.
Sources close to the CM told this newspaper that he will not initiate any follow up action on the issue without first consulting the A-G on the legal implications. At the same time, sources said that Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy will not convene a meeting of the selection committee again to ratify the four names that were earlier recommended, and rejected by the Governor, as Leader of the Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is also a member of the selection panel, may not like to favour the rejected names again.
A legal opinion on whether the Governor is entitled to reject the recommendations of selection committee will be sought by the CM. Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy will also take the A-G’s advice on the hurdles that the government will have to overcome if it decides to stand firm on the four nominees. As per the Right to Information Act, 2005, Section 15 (3) clearly says, “state information commissioners shall be appointed by the Governor on the recommendations of the selection committee.”
The Act does not provide the Governor the right to reject the recommendations. The Chief Minister is learnt to have asked officials to speak to the Union ministry of personnel and find out if the Governor's rejection has a precedent in the country. Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy would like to resolve the issue, yet avoid a confrontation with the Governor, sources said, adding that he will move ahead only after getting a feedback on the legalities involved. The source did not rule out the possibility of the CM meeting the Governor on the issue.
For now, there is no hitch for the CM to go ahead with the appointment of four other nominees whose names have been cleared by the Governor.
