Kerala: Foul play alleged in State Information Commission appointments

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The appointment of information commissioners in the State Information Commission (SIC) has run into rough weather again with several RTI activists petitioning the governor against the alleged politicisation of the selection process. All the five posts of information commissioners have been lying vacant for over a year as the selection process initiated by the previous UDF government was marred by controversies and the High Court had scrapped the selection. The present selection process may also get caught up in legal tangles.

RTI activists M.T. Thomas and M. Peter and D.B. Binu of RTI Kerala Federation have sent separate petitions to Governor P. Sathasivam urging him to ensure a fool-proof selection. They cited Supreme Court and High Court orders insisting on the integrity of the candidates. Sources at the chief minister's office said that some 190 applications, including those of politicians and retired IAS and IPS officers, were received against five vacancies. A committee comprising chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, law minister A.K. Balan and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has to select the final five and recommend the names to the governor. There were allegations of CPM and CPI sharing the five vacancies.

"The selection of five members by the previous UDF government was initially opposed by CPM leader V.S. Achuthana-ndan, who was the then opposition leader and a member of the selection committee. He even made a dissent note, following which the governor also sought clarifications. Mr Ramesh Chennithala may raise dissent in the wake of the present allegations," sources pointed out. The functioning of the SIC, headed by chief information commissioner Vinson M. Paul, has been hit due to the delay in filling the vacancies. Over 15,000 petitions, mainly appeals, were pending and it would take even a year for an appeal to be finalised.