N Chandrababu Naidu slams state government for ignoring HC order

Telugu Desam Party president and Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh Assembly, N Chandrababu Naidu, has questioned why the state government did not sack four Information Commissioners under the RTI Act after high court struck down their appointments. "High court came down heavily upon the Kiran Kumar Reddy government for appointing four Congress workers as Information Commissioners in blatant violation of the RTI Act.

"It struck down their appointment... But they continue to remain in their posts," Chandrababu said. "As a member of the selection committee, I registered my dissent over the appointment of Congress workers, but the government went ahead while I was away, in February this year," he said.

Lashing out at the chief minister, Chandrababu said that Kiran Kumar had himself lost the right to rule the state. In a recent verdict, based on a Public Interest Litigation filed by former Union Home Secretary K Padmanabhaiah and others, high court had directed the state government to appoint four new candidates as Information Commissioners within six weeks.

It had earlier annulled the appointments of Congress workers Lam Tantiya Kumari, M Vijaya Nirmala, V Venkateswarlu and Imtiaz Ahmed to the said posts. However, the state government has not complied with the high court order with the four Congress workers reportedly looking to move Supreme Court against the verdict.