TNN 22 November 2009, 05:48am IST
LUCKNOW: The opposition against chief information commissioner of
Uttar Pradesh Ranjit Singh Pankaj is gaining ground. The RTI activists
demanding his suspension are growing.
Initially, it was the All India Right to Information Awareness Forum
which had sent a memorandum to governor BL Joshi, demanding suspension
of Pankaj. Now, there are several others raising the same demand.
The reason for resentment against CIC is the Allahabad High Court
order which slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on him for "misleading the
court and extending favours to a person involved in illegal mining"
during his tenure as the mining secretary in the state.
"Considering the CIC guilty under Section 17 of the RTI Act, he should
be suspended with immediate effect," read the memorandum. The forum
has also demanded that all the orders passed by the CIC should be
reviewed by a committee comprising retired or serving judges of
Allahabad/Lucknow bench of high court.
The court took a strict view of the role of Pankaj as the mining
secretary and directed him to submit Rs 50,000 as fine to the
registrar general of the high court from his salary through bank draft
within four weeks for "concealing facts and telling lies" and
favouring the wrong man instead of taking action against him. His
subordinates also got the same punishment.
"We request the governor to take action in the matter," said Neeraj
Kumar of Rashtriya Jagran Jansoochna Abhiyan Manch. "It is not
acceptable that even after being fined by the court, the CIC is
hearing the cases at state information commission," said activist Dev
Dutt Sharma.
Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission (UPSIC) has been in the
news in the past too. First UPCIC MA Khan was probably also the first
CIC in the country to have been placed under suspension. The state
government then tried to appoint a bureaucrat, whose name was
vehemently opposed, as the CIC.
It was in June that Pankaj was appointed as the CIC. His appointment
was also opposed and a PIL was filed in the court stating that his
selection and appointment was illegal and therefore be set aside. The
selection committee, which appointed Pankaj as the CIC, did not have
its quorum complete as leader of opposition was not present in the
meeting.
"We request the governor to take action against the CIC," said an
activist Urvashi Sharma from Project Vijay.
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