Don't pick just babus for info commissions: Court
Amit Anand Choudhary | TNN | Feb 16, 2019, 07:18 ISTNEW DELHI: Questioning the appointment of only bureaucrats as chief information commissioner and information commissioners, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre and states to select eminent people from other fields also for these positions.
A bench of Justices A K Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer said any person of eminence in public life is qualified to be appointed as information commissioner in central and state information commissions and held that selection of only government officials for the posts shows "official bias in favour of its own class". It asked the search committee to consider people from other fields also as "any person of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism or administration and governance is qualified to become chief information commissioner or information commissioner".
"The legislature in its wisdom widened the area of consideration by not limiting it to the serving or retired government employees alone ... Field of knowledge and experience is also very much broadened as it can be either in law or science and technology or social service or management or journalism or administration and governance, the bench said.
The court noted that many persons from other fields apply for the posts on fulfilling the criteria fixed under the RTI Act but the governments do not select them.
A bench of Justices A K Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer said any person of eminence in public life is qualified to be appointed as information commissioner in central and state information commissions and held that selection of only government officials for the posts shows "official bias in favour of its own class". It asked the search committee to consider people from other fields also as "any person of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism or administration and governance is qualified to become chief information commissioner or information commissioner".
"The legislature in its wisdom widened the area of consideration by not limiting it to the serving or retired government employees alone ... Field of knowledge and experience is also very much broadened as it can be either in law or science and technology or social service or management or journalism or administration and governance, the bench said.
The court noted that many persons from other fields apply for the posts on fulfilling the criteria fixed under the RTI Act but the governments do not select them.
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