Ex-bureaucrats line up for 'coveted' info commissioner post in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Serving and retired IAS officers, retired IPS and IFS officers, district judges and officials working in various departments are among the 370 people who have applied for the six posts of the information commissioners.

Information commissioners serve as the last hope for applicants seeking information under the Right to Information Act's three-tier system. An applicant moves the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) after two failed attempts: at the information officer and a superior officer designated as appellate authority.

The government issued a notification to fill six posts of information commissioners -- five in Bengaluru and one in Belagavi -- in November. Among the applicants are IAS officers Mamata B R and Richard Vincent D'Souza, and retired IAS, IPS, IFS officers A B Ibrahim, B Balagopal, Allappa R, M G Hiremath, Ashit Mohan Prasad, K T Balakrishna, M V Amaranath and Rajeev Ranjan. The list also has four district judges, over 30 retired officials who served in posts ranging from directors to joint secretary and first division assistants.

The post of information commissioner has become coveted due to the salary and perks equivalent to that of the chief secretary of the state or Supreme Court judge. According to Section 15 (5), the information commissioner should be a person of eminence in public life with knowledge of law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism or administration and governance.

An activist who has revealed lapses in several departments through RTI said successive governments have ignored the basic principles during selection. "We have seen people getting selected because of political connections rather than qualification. The law doesn't bar anyone from applying. But how can an officer who spent years withholding information from public suddenly work for transparency? One of the present commissioners was selected at a time he was under trial in a disproportionate assets case," he said, referring to the appointment of H C Sathyan.

Chief Information Commissioner N C Srinivasa said, "Appointing the commissioners is the government's prerogative. The law provides for representation of all fields. However, considering the nature of the work, it would serve the purpose of the RTI Act if people with knowledge of law are selected. They need not be lawyers or judges but should know the basic principles of law," he said.