CIC split wide open after news travels out of meeting rooms

NEW DELHI: The split in the Central Information Commission, the final appellate authority for Right to Information (RTI) Act, is wide open. Two information commissioners have openly questioned the motive behind making public internal discussions and identifying them for their opposition to government proposed RTI rules.

At the monthly meeting of the Commission last week, information commissioners Yashovardhan Azad and M Sridhar Acharyulu, who had earlier opposed provisions of government's draft RTI rules, questioned the motive behind making public their opposition and internal discussions in the November meeting of the Commission. Both Azad and Acharyulu had criticised introduction of new rules that give more powers to CIC to assign any RTI appeal to a commissioner in larger public interest.

At a full Commission meeting in November, Azad and Acharyulu expressed strong reservations to insertion of a new Rule 15 and said it would be "misused" by the government.

Last week, the full Commission meeting called to bid farewell to Manjula Prasher saw the commissioners pointing out that they had been identified for their opposition in the minutes of meetings issued.