SICs Vacancies: SC Seeks Reply From Odisha Among 8 States

Bhubaneswar: Taking strong exception to non-filling of vacancies in State Information Commissioners (SICs), the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the central government and eight states, including Odisha, to submit a status report in this regard.

Besides Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala and Karnataka have been asked to submit the status report within four weeks.

A division bench of the apex court headed by Justice SA Bobde issued the directive in response to a petition seeking directions to the respective governments to fill up the vacant posts with immediate effect in a transparent and time-bound manner.

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Prashant Bhushan told the apex court that these eight state governments did not fill up the positions despite its February order to fill up the vacant posts of the chief and state Information Commissioners within six months.