Kerala’s governor submits a list of three people to the government for state information commissioners

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has returned a list of three candidates for appointment as state information commissioners, causing a blow to the state administration. Following allegations that the candidates were selected outside of established procedures, the governor has requested further information and an explanation from the administration. The government’s answer will determine whether or not the list is subject to further action.

Senior writer Sonichan P. Joseph and two previous heads of teachers’ organizations, T K Ramakrishnan (retired from Thrissur Sree Kerala Varma College) and M Sreekumar (former instructor at Kottiyam NSS College), were included in the government list.

After receiving a complaint from the Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC) pointing out purported infractions of Supreme Court norms in the information commissioner appointment process, the governor decided to return the list.

According to the SC order, the chief minister must form a search committee to identify and narrow down the pool of qualified candidates; the committee’s members, agenda, minutes, and decisions must all be made public on the official government website; and a notice for selection must be published in a minimum of four state dailies.

SUCC identified irregularities in the government’s protocols. Biased or illogical criteria are used by the selection committee to choose information commissioners. Rather than the qualifications of the applicants, it seems that the selection process was determined by the claims (bargaining) of political parties. The CPM (Sreekumar) has nominated one candidate, while the CPI (Ramakrishnan) and Kerala Congress (M) (Sonichan) have the other two. Each of these parties is a component of the state’s governing coalition. The allegation said that two of the applicants had positions as office bearers of the AKPCTA, a Marxist association of private college instructors in the state.

According to the complaint, the selection committee’s recommendations for the two retired private college instructors are from the fields of business and politics, which do not fall within any of the RTI Act’s designated streams of eminence. It also said that less deserving applicants were taken into account.

The recent selection of V Hari Nair as Thiruvananthapuram’s chief information commissioner (CIC) has also drawn criticism from SUCC. Nonetheless, the governor approved the idea. “Regarding the state government’s list, we got concerns. The list was then returned in order to get a report from the state government and vigilance clearance for the suggested individuals, according to Raj Bhavan sources.

Disapproval of Thiruvananthapuram’s CIC

The Save University Campaign Committee also voiced disapproval of V Hari Nair’s recent nomination as T’Puram’s chief information commissioner. Nonetheless, the government approved the project.