2005 law on RTI will become 'dead letter': SC asks Centre to fill vacancies

Here's a lowdown on the important cases heard in the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court today

Taking serious note of vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC) and state information commissions (SICs), the  Supreme Cout (SC), on Monday, asked the Centre and the state governments to take steps to fill the posts, saying otherwise the 2005 law on right to information will become a "dead letter".

Some of the other important cases that were heard today are:  

 - In a setback for former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, the SC rejected his regular bail pleas in corruption and money-laundering cases related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

 - Observing that the sanctity of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution should be maintained, the SC directed Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide the cross-petitions filed by the rival factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs by December 31.

 - SC held that a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) bench comprising judicial member Rakesh Kumar and technical member Alok Srivastava wilfully defied its October 13 order by going ahead with the pronouncement of their verdict in the Finolex Cables case.

 - SC directed the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately decide on granting sanction to prosecute a school teacher accused of instructing her students to slap a Muslim classmate for failing to complete his homework.

 - SC said it will hear on November 10 a petition challenging an order of the Allahabad High Court which had transferred to itself all matters related to the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute pending before a Mathura court.

 - SC asked the Centre to collect data from all states and Union Territories on social security schemes launched for persons with disability in comparison to those started for other sections of society.

- SC refused to entertain the bail plea of Leena Paulose, the wife of alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, in a Rs 200 crore extortion case, observing the allegations against her are serious.