 The Governor ESL Narasimhan's rejection of the Kiran Government selections for the appointment of Information commissioners has put the CM in a quandary.
The opposition has termed the Governors action as a slap in the face of the CM who has no defense in the recommendation of four political candidates for the coveted post and for watering down the spirit of RTI act.
The legal opinion given by advocate general A.Sudershan Reddy on the issue of appointment of information commissioners has put chief minister N.Kiran Kumar Reddy in a dilemma.
According to sources, the AG's advice is that "the four names to which the governor did not raise any objection cannot be cleared by the government on the grounds that while some names were objected to, it does not mean that the other names were approved. In such a situation, the state government can expect more problems in case it issues a GO appointing the four names to which there was no objection from Raj Bhavan as information commissioners." This was the sum and substance of the AG's opinion, said the sources.
Thus the Governor had put the entire process in abeyance and the government is not confident enough to ahead with regard to the four other names - one journalist and three other bureaucrats - for appointment as Information Commissioners.
Apparently, the AG has recommended that the entire file be sent to the governor again with explanations to the objections raised against the four names by Narasimhan. As a result, the General Administration Department, which was in the process of issuing a GO appointing four persons as information commissioners, has dropped the idea and is now preparing a detailed note with examples from other states where some people having a political background were appointed.
The dilemma before the state government is that even after it re-sends the entire file to the governor, there is a strong possibility of him sending it back again. This is what happened when the CM wanted to appoint R.Dilip Reddy (a journalist turned YSR favorite) as a member of the AP Administrative Tribunal.Narasimhan rejected it on the grounds that Dilip Reddy lacked the requisite experience needed for that appointment. Kiran Kumar sent it back to which the governor directed the state to seek the Centre's opinion."
During his observations, the AG also advised that in case the governor once again returns the file seeking some more clarifications, it would be better to hold a fresh selection meeting by taking opposition TDP leader N.Chandrababu Naidu into confidence.
In case the governor returns the file seeking some more clarifications for the second time, the AG suggested that it would be better to hold a fresh selection meeting by taking opposition TDP leader N.Chandrababu Naidu into confidence than appointing the four names cleared by Raj Bhavan.
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