New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Centre why only bureaucrats were being shortlisted to fill the vacant post of Information Commissioners and not people from other fields.
“Out of 280 applicants, search committee shortlisted only 14 bureaucrats, why none was taken from other fields?” asked a bench headed by Justice AK Sikri.
The Central government told the court that Chief Information Commissioner and four Information Commissioners have been appointed and the process for appointing other Information Commissioners was underway.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by RTI activists Anjali Bhardwaj, Commodore Lokesh Batra (retired) and Amrita Johri who stayed that over 23,500 appeals and complaints are pending with the CIC (Central Information Commission) as posts of Information Commissioners are lying vacant.
The plea has sought direction from the top court order Centre to ensure that appointments of Information Commissioners are made in a timely and transparent manner.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]