Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Information Commission (SIC Kerala) sought an explanation from the PSC Secretary for not publishing the qualifications of the evaluators of the examinations on the website. The show cause notice to the PSC Secretary is a prelude to taking action against the PSC Information Officer, as Dr Sandhya, a native of Kalanjoor, Pathanamthitta, was denied the information despite her application under the Right to Information Act.
One of the key questions raised in the application for the RTI was about the qualifications prescribed by the PSC for the evaluators of the examinations for the post of Commerce Assistant Professor in the Higher Education Department. But the PSC’s reply was that, they cannot provide it as Dr Sandhya had asked for personal information. As her application was denied, Dr Sandhya later made an appeal to the PSC Joint Secretary, but there was no reply. The complainant’s lawyer KS Vinayakumar said that she approached the Right to Information Commission following this.
State Information Commissioner A Abdul Hakeem stated in an order that since the information sought by the applicant is not personal, it cannot be denied under Section 8(1) and it is the general norm that PSC should publish this information on the website in advance.
The order of the State Information Commissioner states that the information should be made available to the applicant free of charge by April 4. The Commissioner’s order also states that public information requested by the complainant and other similar information, should be published on the website by April 12. PSC Secretary’s explanation and information officer’s reply to show cause notice also must be submitted by 30th of this month.
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