The Delhi High Court on Wednesday declined to give directions to the gGovernment to change the procedure for appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner, saying it was not in its jurisdiction to lay down criteria in this regard.
“Court can’t ask the government to frame rules to bring transparency. You can raise the issue before the government and before Parliament,” a bench headed by Chief Justice A P Shah said while hearing a PIL seeking a direction to the Government to appoint a non-bureaucrat to the post.
The petitions filed by a group of RTI activists also pleaded that instead of appointing a person to the post without going public, the Government should invite applications through public notice and then appoint the best candidate.
The bench, also comprising Justice Muralidhar, expressed inability to pass such an order, saying, “Such changes cannot be initiated by the judiciary.
“The law was framed after a mass movement was initiated for it. The same movement should be initiated to bring an amendment. Why should the court come into the picture at this stage,” the judges said, adding, “You (RTI activists) should mobilise the larger civil society to build opinion on the issue“.
The judges said, “The issue should not be closed by our rejection of your plea. It is an important issue. We don’t think the judiciary will be able to do this as there are some limitations.”
