Kerala Guv sends back list of three Information Commissioners to state govt

Thiruvananthapuram: In continuation of the 'not too pleasant' relationship shared by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the former on Saturday send back a list containing the names of three Information Commissioners to the state government, seeking more explanation on the selected candidates.

The candidature of Chief Information Commissioner V. Hari Nair, a former law secretary, had been cleared earlier by Khan.

Incidentally, Khan was acting on a complaint to this effect lodged by the Save University Campaign Committee ( SUCC), which pointed out "grave anomalies" in the list of the three selected candidates for the post of Information Commissioner.

R.S. Sasikumar, the Chairman of SUCC, told IANS that there has been a total violation of the guidelines set by the apex court.

“There has been blatant violation of the orders of the Supreme Court as the selections have been made keeping in mind the claims of the political parties, rather than on the merit of the candidates. One candidate is the nominee of a CPI-M leader (M. Sreekumar) while the others are backed by the CPI (T. K. Ramakrishnan) and Kerala Congress (M) (Sonichan B. Joseph, a journalist).

"All these parties are constituents of the ruling front in the state. The first two are retired private college teachers of commerce and politics, which will not come under any of the streams of eminence as stipulated by the RTI Act,” said Sasikumar.

“We believe that more meritorious candidates, who have academic and administrative qualifications in consonance with the objectives of the RTI Act, have not been considered because of the said irrational selection criteria,” added Sasikumar.

The Governor, according to sources, have sent back the list to the state government seeking clarification following the surfacing of the complaint.