Information panel appointments under cloud

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The appointments to the State Information Commission, a body envisaged to ensure transparency in governance, are feared to have been politicised and made in the most non-transparent manner.  

The Kerala chapter of the National Campaign for the People’s Right to Information led by Aruna Roy has written to the Chief Secretary stating that information commissioners are appointed in violation of various provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005, and Supreme Court orders. Though the letter was sent on April 30, the chief secretary has not responded.  

The first charge is that ineligible candidates are appointed to the post. The RTI Act states that only “persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience” in certain prescribed fields should be appointed as commissioners.

“It is evident from the biodata of Sony Thengamom (serving information commissioner), he has not even passed LLB. Hence he can never be accepted as a person of eminence,” NCPRI state coordinator Abey George and members M T Thomas and Peter Myaliparambil state in their letter to the chief secretary.  

The other charge is that the appointments to the posts of information commissioners have become political.

The letter has referred to a recent demand made by Johny Nellore that a nominee of his party, Kerala Congress (Jacob), should be made one of the information commissioner.

“This clearly shows that the appointments are done on mere political considerations only, and no merit is considered in the appointments of the Information Commissioners in the state,” the letter states.  

Also flouted are certain procedural requirements that have been insisted upon by the Supreme Court to ensure transparency. It is mandated that the panel has to be drawn up after giving prior advertisements through the media. It is also laid down that the number of names proposed should be three times the existing vacancies. Both these requirements are blatantly ignored.