UP axes CIC after CBI claim of evidence to try Mayawati by Kajari Bhattacharya, The Statesman, http://tinyurl.com/5p33qk
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW, July 10: Hours after the CBI today told the Supreme Court that it had "sufficient" evidence to prosecute Uttar Pradesh chief minister Miss Mayawati in a disproportionate assets case registered against her five years ago, balls of retaliatory action started rolling in Lucknow. In the first action of its kind taken against a state's chief information commissioner (CIC) anywhere in the country, UP Governor TV Rajeswar put UP CIC Justice (Retd) Mr MA Khan under suspension and prohibited him from attending office for alleged corruption, misconduct and irregularities in appointing employees. Justice (Retd) Mr Khan was a Mulayam Singh Yadav appointee. The CBI filed an affidavit in the SC saying it will shortly file a chargesheet in a disproportionate assets case registered against the BSP supremo in 2003. It said there was ample evidence to show that Miss Mayawati had amassed wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income while responding to a notice issued to it on a petition filed by her. The UP CM was seeking quashing of criminal proceedings against her in the case which she alleged was politically motivated. In Lucknow, a highly-placed source said: "We have sent a reference to the SC, which will form a committee to inquire into the allegations and then decide if Justice (Retd) MA Khan will be removed from office." The source added: "The allegations have been confined to misconduct and irregularities in hiring employees. We do not want to level allegations of misappropriation of funds, as these undermine a Constitutional authority, which a CIC is." He said that in spite of the fact that the CIC was not supposed to make appointments directly, Justice (Retd) allegedly Mr Khan had done so, flouting recruitment rules. "There were no advertisements, no tests." Other information commissioners were also critical of the CIC. Magsaysay awardee and RTI activist Mr Sandeep Pandey said many complaints against the CIC had been forwarded to the Governor. "The CIC was more partial to public information officers, who are government employees, and harsh with RTI applicants. Hearings are pending in thousands," Mr Pandey alleged. Justice (Retd) Mr Khan's tenure was due to end in November. The CIC was appointed in 2005, during the last days of the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in UP. The appointment was seen by many as a reward from Mr Yadav to Justice (Retd) Mr Khan, who, as an HC judge in 2003, had issued a highly-controversial ruling in an anti-defection case that helped the SP come to power the same year in the state. http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=212915
