'Loyal' bureaucrats are being appointed as information commissioners at the Centre and State transparency panels, the Supreme Court observed on Thursday, saying it's order for judicial members in the commissions would make them independent and free from government influence.
Votaries of transparency law told the Supreme Court that its direction for appointing people from judicial background as members of the Central and state information commissions was "legally not correct" and would lead to "frustrating" the whole objective of the RTI Act.
A total of 65,703 cases are pending in the Supreme Court till November this year, out of which 6,445 cases have been pending for more than five years, Law and Justice Minister Ashwani Kumar told the Rajya Sabha today.
The appointment of a High Court judge made 12 years ago was reopened by the Supreme Court on Friday after a PIL claimed that a criminal case pending against the judge was overlooked by the selection committee of Supreme Court judges which recommended his appointment.