NEW DELHI: The three-member selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that met on Wednesday to appoint the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), eight information commissioners (ICs) and a vigilance commissioner is learnt to have finalised the names. However, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have registered his strong dissent to the choices and submitted the same in writing, sources said.Gandhi is said to have strongly objected to the absence of names from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and OBC communities. The issue raised by the Congress neta is likely to be a key talking point in the upcoming mega rally against “vote chori” being organised by Congress on Dec 14.
The details of the appointments were not known till late in the evening. The meeting that lasted for nearly one and a half hours was held at the Prime Minister’s Office. It was also attended by home minister Amit Shah. Sources said the LoP sought more details of the appointees and also questioned the criteria adopted for the selection of CIC and ICs. According to sources, Gandhi was of the view that the govt’s proposal on the names was completely “biased”. He apparently said that the absence of weaker communities from constitutional positions was unacceptable, given the need to strengthen their participation across the board, including higher positions. The LoP is learnt to have forcefully put forth his differences on the govt proposal.
CIC has been without a chief since September 13
There were three parts to the meeting: One on appointment of CIC, another on choice of eight ICs & third on vigilance commissioner. While Gandhi registered his “dissent” in writing separately on the govt’s proposal for CIC and vigilance commissioner, he gave his “observations” on the eight names for the post of ICs, sources said. The Central Information Commission has been without a chief since incumbent Heeralal Samariya demitted office on Sept 13 on attaining the age of 65 years. Besides the chief, the commission can have up to 10 commissioners. Currently, it is making do with just two – Anandi Ramalingam and Vinod Tiwari. According to commission’s website, the pending caseload stands at over 30,800. The eight posts of information commissioners have been vacant since Nov 2023. With Samariya demitting office, the chief’s post fell vacant for the seventh time since 2014.There was a total of 53 names in the panels prepared by the govt and presented before the collegium for the 10 positions. On the objection raised, the govt is said to have agreed to include a few from the marginalised communities in the panels. But there was still no clarity about their inclusion in the appointments. Under Section 12 (3) of the RTI Act, the prime minister is the chairperson of the search committee, which also comprises the LoP and a Union minister nominated by the PM. According to the procedure for the appointment of CIC, the particulars of interested candidates are invited through advertisements in newspapers and through the DoPT website.
