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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | RTI chief faces Kashmir challenge

RTI chief faces Kashmir challenge

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published Published on Dec 5, 2009   modified Modified on Dec 5, 2009


Wajahat Habibullah’s new job as Jammu and Kashmir’s chief information commissioner has run into rough weather even before he has taken the oath of office.

Jammu and Kashmir High Court has admitted a writ petition that challenges his appointment as the state’s first CIC.

Wajahat recently quit as chief information commissioner (CIC) of India to take over the fresh assignment at chief minister Omar Abdullah’s request. State officials say Wajahat, an old Kashmir hand, is expected to play a much bigger role as a facilitator of “quiet talks” between the separatists and the Centre.

Raj Dev Sharma, a Right to Information activist, has challenged the appointment. “Jammu and Kashmir’s RTI Act is clear that people residing in our state alone are entitled to information. Wajahat Habibullah is a non-resident, so how can he gather information when he himself has no right over it?” Sharma asked.

The court has admitted the writ and listed it for hearing next week. A nervous state government has filed a caveat requesting the court to hear it out before passing any interim order.

“That before passing any interim order… the state… may kindly be given an opportunity of being heard in the interest of justice,” Sanjay Kakkar, a lawyer on the panel of the state’s advocate-general, has told the court in the caveat.

Advocate-general M.I. Qadri said the petitioner wanted the writ to be treated as a public interest litigation. “The court will decide its status on Monday when it comes up for hearing,” he said.

Sharma has also challenged the appointment of officials who will work under Wajahat. “Under the act, the appointment of other officers has to be made in consultation with the CIC. When the CIC has not taken charge, how were these appointments made?” he asked.

A state government official said there was no bar to appointing a non-state subject in the state. “The governor’s is the highest constitutional post in the state and he has never been a state subject,” he said.

Wajahat has had a long association with Kashmir. He took up his first assignment in the state in 1969 after qualifying as an IAS officer, and later served here in various capacities till 1982.

He returned to Kashmir in 1990 at the peak of militancy but the new term was cut short by a near-fatal road accident in 1993. He was Kashmir’s divisional commissioner then and was leading the negotiations on behalf of the government with the militants holed up inside the Hazratbal shrine.

Wajahat’s efforts had helped the government bring the Hazratbal siege to a peaceful end. He is known to enjoy cordial relations with several top separatists.


The Telegraph, 5 November, 2009, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091205/jsp/nation/story_11824433.jsp
 

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