Senior advocates, journalists, IAS, IPS and IFS officers were among the 186 persons who had applied for the post of information commissioner.
But the state government picked a former employee, who is being tried on charges of having disproportionate assets (DA), apart from two persons close to the political establishment.
On April 20, the government issued a notification appointing three persons for the vacant posts of information commissioners.
The information commissioner acts as the second appellate authority deciding on appeals by public who couldn’t obtain information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The appointment was made under Section 15 of the RTI Act, which says information commissioners should 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.
Former IAS officer S B Bommanahalli who worked closely with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Ravindra Gurunath Dhakappa, an entrepreneur said to be close to political leaders, were the two appointees.
However, the selection of H C Sathyan, a former employee of the transport department who is being tried by the 3rd Additional District Sessions Judge, Mysuru, in a DA case, has triggered opposition from RTI activists who have written to the Governor, requesting him to cancel the appointment.
Sathyan has been chargesheeted by the Lokayukta for having assets disproportionate to known sources of income to the extent of 55.15%.
As per the information obtained under the RTI, several advocates, retired officials, journalists and activists had applied for the post.
Retired IAS officers V Shankar, A B Ibrahim; retired IFS officer O Palaiah, B Nijalingappa, M V Amaranath, Vijaya Kumar, K H Nagaraj, Ambadi Madhav, B Venkatesh and retired IPS officers T Suneel Kumar, T R Suresh, T D Pawar, Ashith Mohan Prasad and H S Revanna are some of the applicants.
S U K Patil, one of the senior advocates who applied for the posts, said the government’s choice of Sathyan shows a disregard for the rules.
“I have a PhD in law and have studied RTI Act in detail. I have 27 years of experience in law. I don’t see how the government can justify its choice,” he said.
A journalist, who has applied for the post, said: “While former bureaucrats may not be the best choice for the role of enabling transparency in administration, the government at least had a chance to choose a person who is not tainted.”
RTI activist B H Veeresh, who wrote to the governor to revoke the appointment, said a group of activists have also met the secretary of Karnataka Information Commission, requesting that no case should be assigned to Sathyan.
“What kind of orders can we expect from persons who fail the basic test of integrity? We will fight the appointment of Sathyan,” he added.
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