The appointment of Information Commissioners appointed by the Haryana Government has been challenged in the Punjab-Haryana High Court. However, the matter could not be heard in the High Court today. Now the court will hear the matter tomorrow i.e. on Thursday.
Former Chief Secretary TVSN Prasad has been appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner of Haryana by the Haryana Government. Apart from this, Amarjit Singh, Neeta Khera, Karamveer Saini and Sanjay Madan have been appointed as Information Commissioners.
High Court lawyer Jagmohan Bhatti has filed a petition saying that the persons who have been appointed as Information Commissioners belong to the ruling political party of Haryana. This is a violation of the rules of the Constitution. In the petition, an immediate ban was demanded on these appointments.
Some technical flaws were pointed out in Bhatti’s petition in the Registry Branch of the High Court. After which Bhatti appeared before the Chief Justice of the High Court and demanded a hearing on this petition before taking oath. On Bhatti’s request, the Chief Justice adjourned the hearing till Wednesday.
The appointment of this time’s Information Commissioners is in controversy..
The appointment of Priyanka Dhupar, daughter of former BJP District President
Actually, Priyanka Dhupar was appointed by the government this time to the post of Information Commissioner. While there are two such allegations against Advocate Priyanka Dhupar, due to which she is surrounded by controversies. The first controversy came to the fore when she took Rs 18 lakh from another advocate Monica Jain through a clerk and did not return it. On this, the Bhiwani Bar Association de-barred her.
In the second controversy, she put pressure to withdraw the girl’s gang rape case. This was the reason that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Haryana Child Protection Commission released a report in 2021 in the case of gang rape and molestation of a girl from Assam. In the report, it was recommended to suspend Priyanka Dhupar, member of Child Welfare Committee from Bhiwani, District Child Welfare Officer Narendra and Manoj LPO.
The appointment of Neeta Khera also came into controversy
The Haryana government had issued appointment orders of 5 Information Commissioners on Friday. These include retired HCS officer Amarjit Singh, Karamveer 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. Neeta Kheda, a resident of Ambala Cantt, has been a member of HPSC from August 2016 to August 2022.
Appointment cannot be done under the rules
As per the rules, the Chairperson or Member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) or the Chairperson of the State Public Service Commission can be appointed, but she cannot be appointed to any post under the Central Government and State Government including Haryana. Earlier, in April 2023, Dr. Kulbir Chikara was also made 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, 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 Chikara, who has been working for two years, as Information Commissioner in the High Court, then the court can also reject the appointment of both. 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 for 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 for these posts is Rs 2.25 lakh.
Apart from this, the government also provides the facility of government accommodation-village and car. There can be 10 information commissioners 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.
