The Tamil Nadu government has appointed retired IAS officer Dr S Natarajan as the state chief information commissioner and named four state information commissioners, filling vacancies in the Tamil Nadu Information Commission that hears appeals and complaints under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
The appointments were announced through a government order issued by the Human Resources Management Department on Thursday. Along with Natarajan, S Mahalakshmi, Dr T K Shabeer, C B Meena and P Mahalingam have been appointed as state information commissioners.
The Tamil Nadu Information Commission is responsible for considering appeals and complaints from people who have been denied access to information under the RTI Act. Its functioning provides an institutional route for applicants to challenge refusals, delays or other difficulties in obtaining information from public authorities.
The appointments were made under Section 15(3) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. The provision governs the appointment of state information commissioners, including the state chief information commissioner, to the state information commission.
According to the government order, all five appointees will hold office for three years from the date they assume charge or until they attain the age of 65, whichever is earlier. Their appointments and service conditions will be governed by the provisions of the RTI Act and the Right to Information Rules, 2019.
The filling of the vacancies restores the commission’s appointed strength with a chief information commissioner and four information commissioners. The order does not specify the number of cases pending before the commission, the duration of the vacancies or the date on which the appointees will assume charge.
The appointments are significant for citizens using the RTI framework because appeals and complaints are handled through the information commission when access to records is denied or delayed. The new commissioners will begin their terms once they assume charge, with their tenure subject to the statutory three-year or age-based limit specified in the government order.
