THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The General Administration Department, for the first time ever, has adhered to the spirit of the RTI Act and Supreme Court guidelines, and invited applications for the post of the chief information commissioner and information commissioner three months prior to the retirement of the incumbents.
This requirement to begin the selection process three months before the creation of a vacancy was a stipulation laid down by the Supreme Court in the Namit Sharma vs Union of India case (2012).
Nonetheless, this guideline was blatantly violated all this while. Two information commissioners Dr Kurias Kumbalakuzhy and M N Gunavardhanan had retired in March and April of 2015.
Another IC, Soni B Thengamam, demitted office on August 10 this year. Yet another, C S Sasikumar, left office on October 24, 2015. But the GAD had done nothing to fill these vacancies even after the tenures came to an end.
However, in November, the GAD was asked to expedite the appointments by the HC following petition from National Campa-ign For People's Right To Information.
