Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Monday, April 9 directed the State and Central governments to file responses to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition, which has termed as illegal, the payment of pension/additional pension to State Information Commissioners (SICs) and Chief Information Commissioners after they complete a three-year tenure in these posts.
A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice B.M. Shyam Prasad, issued the direction while hearing the petition filed by G.B. Athri, a retired wing commander of the Indian Air Force.
Claiming that there is no provision for payment of pension to SICs under the Right to Information Act, it has been contended in the petition that the State government has illegally paying pension for the past eight years by issuing an “illegal” executive order in January 2013.
The State government’s order of 2013 allowed a maximum of Rs. 4.96 lakh per annum as pension, which was equivalent to the then pension of Chief Secretary, to the SICs and the Chief Information Commissioners who completed three-year tenure. However, at present SICs are eligible to receive around Rs. 96,000 per month as pension.
