In June 2007, Right to Information (RTI) activist Arvind Kejriwal and Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey had barged into the chief information officer’s chambers and raised slogans against his judgments. Kejriwal alleged that Khan’s orders always went in favour of the government and that he had “misbehaved” with complainants.

Even the head of Congress’ RTI cell, Shailendra Singh, had accused the CIC for disposing off cases if the complainant failed to turn up at the scheduled time. But, on the other hand, the CIC had given several chances to government officials to appear in connection to RTI cases, he had alleged.

In March, Singh had submitted a memorandum to Governor T V Rajeswar asking him to use his powers under Section 17(2) of the RTI Act and order an inquiry into the allegations against Khan from a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.

On May 26, a delegation of local activists, lawyers, intellectuals and retired government officials again met the governor and lodged complaints. “The governor told us that the matter has already been referred to the Supreme Court,” said Sandeep Pandey.

On June 30, journalists Izhar Ahmad and Afzal Ansari claimed that they met senior officials of the governor’s secretariat regarding the matter. “The officer told us that the Supreme Court had asked them to forward relevant documents to the Court,” said Ahmad.

Khan was suspended by Governor T V Rajeswar — on the recommendation of the state chief secretary — for alleged misconduct and irregularities in appointments. His case has been referred to the Supreme Court as per the RTI Act for inquiry.

People close to Khan claimed that the issue was nothing but a personal tussle between the ruling party and the CIC. As a High Court judge, the CIC had given a judgment against the BSP in a case where 40 leaders had defected into SP in 2003.

Besides, Khan had also made strong observations against the ruling party’s ambitious project of Amebdkar Memorial when Congress’ Shailendra Singh sought information in this connection.

Khan, however, preferred to maintain silence on the issue. “He has not made up his mind whether to react or not as it is he is retiring in the nest four months,” said one of his close associates.