SC gives govt 6 weeks to appoint three ICs

“Posts of three Information Commissioners are vacant as on date. Attorney General prays for six weeks for filling up the vacancies. Prayer is allowed. Needful be done in six weeks,” stated the order.

Fixing the matter after six weeks, the bench told Rohatgi: “We have given you the time you asked for. Now you please make sure it is done.” The court asked the government to consider all the applications of the aspirants pursuant to the three advertisements made in 2014 and 2015 for filling up the vacancies.

Rohatgi was representing the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which has appealed against the Delhi HC order of November 6, directing it to appoint three commissioners at the CIC within six weeks.

After remaining headless for more than a fortnight, CIC got its chief on December 18. The posts of three Information Commissioners, however, have been lying vacant for almost a year.

The CIC selection panel comprises Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

More than 33,000 complaints and appeals are currently pending before the commission.

On a previous hearing, the apex court had reproached the government over the delay while giving it two options — fill up the vacancies or produce the records to prove that nobody was