The Central Information Commission is likely to suspend all hearings from tomorrow after the Supreme Court order which mandated hearings to be carried out only by a bench having a judicial member and an expert member. PTI reports, an emergency meeting of all the Commissioners has been convened tomorrow to study the decision which will have a major impact on the working of the panels.

They said since the Central Information Commission does not have any judicial members, they would stop hearing cases till such appointments are made by the government. After the meeting, a detailed report on the impact of the apex court decision would also be sent to the government for deciding future course of action. The Bench of Justices A K Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar said, the Information Commissions at the respective levels shall henceforth work in Benches of two members each. The Bench said one of them being a judicial member, while the other an expert member. The judicial member should be a person possessing a

degree in law, having a judicially trained mind and experience

in performing judicial functions.

The Bench also said the Chief Information Commissioner at the Centre or state level shall only be a person who is or has been a Chief Justice of the High Court or a Judge of the Supreme Court of India.