Latest Info Commission​er Selection: PMO played fair, Oppn Leader played foul

15 May, 2012: There is good news: documents procured by activists GirishMittal and Lokesh Batra under RTI indicate that the latest batch of CentralInformation Commissioners (Rajiv Mathur, Vijai Sharma and Basant Seth) wereselected by a more transparent process than earlier. The central government hasdefinitely mended its ways and set a good precedent for state governments.  By calling for applications and having applicationsscreened by a Search Committee, the government has yielded to two long standingdemands of RTI activists.

However, Leader ofOpposition Sushma Swaraj short-circuited the process, it seems. She put up twonames that were not selected by the Search Committee, and one of them became aCIC. New CICs Rajiv Mathur and Vijai Sharma were on a shortlist of nine personsafter a screening process for 214 contenders. But new CIC Basant Seth waseliminated by the Search Committee, and re-entered the shortlist as SushmaSwaraj’s candidate, it appears from the below documents.

THE PROCESS FOLLOWED THISTIME:

1)      OnOct 29, 2011, DOPT issued this circular inviting applications from all eligiblepersons, including civil society: http://tinyurl.com/DOPT-Circular-Nov2011

2)      Fromthe applications received before the final date, a list of all 214 applicants wasdrawn up: http://tinyurl.com/List-CIC-Applicants-Apr2012

3)      TheSearch Committee seemingly evaluated 214 applicants “on the basis of width,diversity, relevance and length of experience of the applicants, with some preferencefor legal background and strategic exposure”. Also, inputs were sought fromIntelligence Bureau and Central Vigilance Commission. All this is stated in theminutes of the Selection Committee meeting on 23 February 2012: http://tinyurl.com/MOM-PMs-Selection-Cmte-Feb2012

IT WILL BE WORTH GETTING THESE DETAILS UNDER RTI:

a)     Copies of all correspondence betweenDOPT and PMO concerning constituting Search Committee, defining its terms ofreference, etc.

b)     Copies of documents showing the criteriaand procedure used by the Search Committee for screening the 214 names andarriving at the shortlist of nine names.

c)     What inputs were solicited and receivedby the PMO, Selection Committee and/or Screening Committee from IB and CVC?Copies of all correspondence, reports received etc.

d)     Copies of all correspondence by OppositionLeader Sushma Swaraj with PMO, Search Committee, Selection Committee andcandidates for the CIC’s post.

WHAT IS A SEARCHCOMMITTEE?

Search     Committees guidelines 1994: http://tinyurl.com/Search-Cmte-Circ-1994  

Search     Committee guidelines 2007: http://tinyurl.com/Search-Cmte-Circ-2007

IMPROVEMENT OVER EARLIER SELECTIONS:

Notwithstanding possible deficiencies of the process followed inthis round of selections, it is far better than earlier selections when A N Tiwari (now retired) and Satyananda Mishra (now the Chief CIC), whowere both DoPT Secretaries, selected themselves for the post of InformationCommissioner.   Tiwari and Mishra disregarded dozens of applicationsaddressed to them and made the shortlist list so short that it reduced thePrime Minister’s Selection Committee into a mere rubber stamp. Girish Mittal’sRTI findings revealed this shocking abuse of position:  http://tinyurl.com/ANT-SM-Self-Selection

To understandethical and legal issues in selecting CICs, read this: http://tinyurl.com/CIC-Selections-legal-issues

The present changes in selection procedure are the result of anongoing struggle since 2009. Background material: http://tinyurl.com/CIC-Selections-background

Warm Regards,
KrishnarajRao
98215 88114
thebravepedestrian@gmail.com

Shailesh Gandhi Writes to Chhatisgarh CM as Legislative Assembly Hikes RTI Fee to Rs 500

Text of the letter written by Shri Shailesh Gandhi, Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission, New Delhi, to Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh, and Shri Ravindra Choubey, Leader of Opposition, is reproduced below.

------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Raman Singh

Chief Minister

Chhattisgarh

Mantralaya

DKS Bhawan, Raipur- 492001

Chhattisgarh

Dear Dr. Raman Singh,

There is some disturbing news which has been received that the Chhatisgarh Legislative assembly has revised the fee payable for RTI applications and the fee chargeable for providing information to Citizens. All over the country all Public authorities have kept a fee of `10 as application fee and `2 per page for providing information. It has been reported that the Chhatisgarh Legislature has revised this to`500 for application fee and `15 per page for information to be provided.

This would be very unfortunate since Right to Information is a fundamental right of citizens and Section 7(5) of the Act states that, “Where access to information is to be provided in the printed or in any electronic format, the applicant shall, subject to the Provisions sub-section (6), pay such fee as may be prescribed:

“Provided that the fee prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 6 and sub-section (1) and (5) of section 7 shall be reasonable and no such fee shall charged from the persons who are of below poverty line as may be determined by the appropriate Government.”

It has clearly been mentioned in the law that the application fee as well as the additional fee for providing information would be reasonable. Almost all Public Authorities in the Country have in the right spirit of the Act and recognizing that information should be available to citizens since they are the owners of the information, kept `10/- as application fee and `2/- per page as additional fee for providing the information. In this background the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly’s decision to start charging `500/- as application and `15/- per page as additional fee goes against the spirit and purpose of the RTI Act and would be unwarranted discrimination against citizens who seek information from the Legislative Assembly. This would give rise to suspicion and speculation that the legislative assembly wishes to discourage citizens from exercising their fundamental right. I am sure the Chhattisgarh Assembly will set a good example to promote citizen’s fundamental rights and reduce the application fee and the additional fee to `10/- and `2/- respectively at the earliest.

Best Regards,

Your’s Truly

(Shailesh Gandhi)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shri Ravindra Choubey,

Leader of Opposition

Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha,

Baluda Bazar Road,

Raipur- Chhattisgarh

Dear Shri Ravindra Choubey,

There is some disturbing news which has been received that the Chhatisgarh Legislative assembly has revised the fee payable for RTI applications and the fee chargeable for providing information to Citizens. All over the country all Public authorities have kept a fee of `10 as application fee and `2 per page for providing information. It has been reported that the Chhatisgarh Legislature has revised this to`500 for application fee and `15 per page for information to be provided.

This would be very unfortunate since Right to Information is a fundamental right of citizens and Section 7(5) of the Act states that, “Where access to information is to be provided in the printed or in any electronic format, the applicant shall, subject to the Provisions sub-section (6), pay such fee as may be prescribed:

“Provided that the fee prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 6 and sub-section (1) and (5) of section 7 shall be reasonable and no such fee shall charged from the persons who are of below poverty line as may be determined by the appropriate Government.”

It has clearly been mentioned in the law that the application fee as well as the additional fee for providing information would be reasonable. Almost all Public Authorities in the Country have in the right spirit of the Act and recognizing that information should be available to citizens since they are the owners of the information, kept `10/- as application fee and `2/- per page as additional fee for providing the information. In this background the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly’s decision to start charging `500/- as application and `15/- per page as additional fee goes against the spirit and purpose of the RTI Act and would be unwarranted discrimination against citizens who seek information from the Legislative Assembly. This would give rise to suspicion and speculation that the legislative assembly wishes to discourage citizens from exercising their fundamental right. I am sure the Chhattisgarh Assembly will set a good example to promote citizen’s fundamental rights and reduce the application fee and the additional fee to `10/- and `2/- respectively at the earliest.

Best Regards,

Your’s Truly

(Shailesh Gandhi)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shri Dharamlal Kaushik

Speaker

Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha,

Baluda Bazar Road,

Raipur- Chhattisgarh

Dear Shri Dharamlal Kaushik,

There is some disturbing news which has been received that the Chhatisgarh Legislative assembly has revised the fee payable for RTI applications and the fee chargeable for providing information to Citizens. All over the country all Public authorities have kept a fee of `10 as application fee and `2 per page for providing information. It has been reported that the Chhatisgarh Legislature has revised this to`500 for application fee and `15 per page for information to be provided.

This would be very unfortunate since Right to Information is a fundamental right of citizens and Section 7(5) of the Act states that, “Where access to information is to be provided in the printed or in any electronic format, the applicant shall, subject to the Provisions sub-section (6), pay such fee as may be prescribed:

“Provided that the fee prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 6 and sub-section (1) and (5) of section 7 shall be reasonable and no such fee shall charged from the persons who are of below poverty line as may be determined by the appropriate Government.”

It has clearly been mentioned in the law that the application fee as well as the additional fee for providing information would be reasonable. Almost all Public Authorities in the Country have in the right spirit of the Act and recognizing that information should be available to citizens since they are the owners of the information, kept `10/- as application fee and `2/- per page as additional fee for providing the information. In this background the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly’s decision to start charging `500/- as application and `15/- per page as additional fee goes against the spirit and purpose of the RTI Act and would be unwarranted discrimination against citizens who seek information from the Legislative Assembly. This would give rise to suspicion and speculation that the legislative assembly wishes to discourage citizens from exercising their fundamental right. I am sure the Chhattisgarh Assembly will set a good example to promote citizen’s fundamental rights and reduce the application fee and the additional fee to `10/- and `2/- respectively at the earliest.

Best Regards,

Your’s Truly

(Shailesh Gandhi)