Haryana’s newly appointed Chief Information Commissioner TVSN Prasad and five State Information Commissioners will be sworn in today at Haryana Raj Bhavan. The oath taking ceremony will be held from 5 pm. Before the announcement of this program, orders regarding the appointment of TVSN Prasad have been issued. The government has also adjusted TVSN Prasad in the government like the previous Chief Secretaries.
Salary will be Rs 2.25 lakh
According to the current legal provisions, the tenure of the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner is from assuming office till three years or till the age of 65 years, whereas before the year 2019, the tenure period used to be five years. The monthly salary of these posts is Rs 2.25 lakh.
Apart from this, the government also provides the facility of government accommodation-village and car. 10 Information Commissioners can be appointed in the State Information Commission, while two posts are still vacant. About three hundred and fifty people, including 14 retired and serving IAS officers, had applied for these posts.
Two commissioners have been chairman of HPSC
The Haryana government on Friday issued appointment orders of five information commissioners, including retired HCS officer Amarjit Singh, Karamveer Singh Saini who left Congress and joined BJP, Sanjay Madan of Karnal, vice-president of Haryana Tax Bar Association, Neeta Kheda, who has been a member of Haryana Public Service Commission and Priyanka Dhupar, daughter of BJP Bhiwani district president. Ambala Cantt resident Neeta Kheda has been a member of HPSC from August 2016 to August 2022.
What does the rule say
As per the rule, she can be appointed as the chairperson or member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) or chairperson of the State Public Service Commission, but she cannot be appointed to any post under the Central Government and State Government including Haryana. Earlier in April 2023, Dr. Kulbir Chhikara was also made an Information Commissioner, who has been a member of HPSC from June 2015 to June 2021. His tenure as Information Commissioner is till April 2026.
Legal experts said – violation of section 319 (D)
According to Hemant Kumar, advocate of Punjab and Haryana High Court and expert on constitutional matters, the State Information Commissioner is a statutory post which comes under the Right to Information Act-2005 enacted by the Parliament. According to Article 319 (D) of the Constitution, a former member of the State Public Service Commission cannot be appointed to such a statutory post.
If someone challenges the appointment of Neeta Khera and even Dr. Kulbir Chhikara, who has been working for two years, as Information Commissioner in the High Court, then the court can also reject the appointment of both.
