The swearing in of Tamil Nadu’s new chief information commissioner, K.S. Sripathy, was marked by the arrest of three right to information activists who were protesting against his appointment outside the Raj Bhavan.
M. Gopalakrishnan, Siva Elango and Madhav Vishnubhatta were arrested from the entrance to the Raj Bhavan, where Sripathy was taking oath, holding up placards that read: “Save RTI”, “No transparency in Appointments”, “Non-transparent appointment to uphold transparency?”
They were charged with disturbing peace and remanded in judicial custody.
The RTI activists had complained that due process was not followed in the selection of Sripathy, who only yesterday retired as chief secretary after a two-year tenure.
The leader of the Opposition had not attended the meeting of the three-member selection committee to choose the chief information commissioner, they said. Also, the appointment order was issued late last night so that it would not be challenged in court before the swearing-in.
“The selection process was not preceded by a call for applications from eligible candidates, and Sripathy’s name was revealed even before the committee could meet,” another RTI activist, Nityanand Jayaraman, said.