Excessive judicialisation will deprive flexibility in CIC: CIC

Excessive "judicialisation" of Information Commissions across the country would deprive them of a flexible style of functioning, Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra said here today.

Speaking at the Central Information Commission's annual convention, Mishra said the approach of the Commissions, including the state and centre, in all these years has been to act like an umpire standing right on the field along with the players and not sitting on a pedestal and pronounce oracles.

"Openness of approach, informality in style and simplicity of systems have characterised the functioning of all the commissions....Excessive judicialisation of information commissions will deprive the commission of this flexibility. The society must decide if this is the right path," he said.

The Supreme Court court had recently termed the Commissions as quasi-judicial bodies and directed the government that Chief Information Commissioner at the Centre or State level should only be a person who is or has been a Chief Justice of the High Court or a judge of the Supreme Court of India.

Asking the government to amend the RTI Act, a bench of of justices A K Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar had said that people from judicial background be also appointed as members of the Central and State Commissions which is to be done after consulting with the CJI and Chief Justice of the respective High Courts.