Augustine George Masih, J. - (1.) PETITIONER has approached this Court, praying for issuance of a writ of certiorari for quashing the selection and appointment of respondent Nos. 3 to 5 as the State Information Commissioners. It is the grievance of the petitioner that selection and appointment of respondent Nos. 3 to 5 is in violation of the statutory provisions as pick and choose policy has been adopted by the Statutory Committee appointed under Section 15(3) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (for short, "the RTI Act"). The contention is that the Selection Committee is required to appoint the State Information Commissioners through consensus and, therefore, the recommendation of the leader of opposition, who is one of the Member of the Selection Committee, is mandatory, whereas consent of the said member has not been obtained. He contends that as the leader of opposition did not attend the meeting of the Selection Committee constituted under Section 15(3) of the RTI Act and, thus, the recommendations of the said Committee, which have been accepted by the Governor of Haryana, cannot be said to be in accordance with law and, thus, the selection and appointment of respondent Nos. 3 to 5 deserves to be set -aside. It has further been stated that the petitioner is better qualified and is an eligible candidate as he fulfills all the requisite qualifications mentioned in Section 15 of the RTI Act and, therefore, the respondents were bound to appoint him over and above the selected respondent Nos. 3 to 5.
(2.) PETITIONER , who appears in person and is a Law Graduate, has made submissions on the above lines and prayed for setting -aside of selection of respondent Nos. 3 to 5 and to issue a direction to the official respondents to appoint him as a State Information Commissioner. I have considered the submissions made by the petitioner and have gone through the records of the case.
(3.) SECTION 15 of the RTI Act, on which the petitioner has based his claim, reads as under: - "15. Constitution of State Information Commission. - (1) Every State Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute a body to be known as the.......(name of the State) Information Commission to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform the functions assigned to, it under this Act. (2) The State Information Commission shall consist of - (a) the State. Chief Information Commissioner; and (b) such number of State Information Commissioners, not exceeding ten, as may, be deemed necessary. (3) The State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners shall be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of a committee consisting of - (i) the Chief Minister, who shall be the Chairperson of the committee; (ii) the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly; and (iii) a Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Chief Minister. Explanation. - For the purposes of removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that where the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly has not been recognised as such, the Leader of the single largest group in opposition of the Government in the Legislative Assembly shall be deemed to be the Leader of the Opposition. (4) The general superintendence, direction and management of the affairs of the State Information Commission shall vest in the State Chief Information Commissioner who shall be assisted by the State Information Commissioners and may exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things which may be exercised or done by the State Information Commission autonomously without being subjected to directions by any other authority under this Act (5) The State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance. (6) The State Chief Information Commissioner or a State Information Commissioner shall not be a Member of Parliament or Member of the Legislature of any State or Union territory, as the case may be, or hold any other office of profit or connected with any political party or carrying on any business or pursuing any profession. (7) The headquarters of the State Information Commission shall be at such place in the State as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify and the State Information Commission may, with the previous approval of the State Government, establish offices at other places in the State.";