The selection committee chaired by the Prime Minister may meet today to select the next Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi is also a member of this committee. This meeting is crucial for filling the vacant posts in the Central Information Commission.
New Delhi: The three-member selection committee chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi may meet on Wednesday to select the next Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, is also a member of this committee. Rahul Gandhi may participate in this meeting to fill the vacant posts in the Central Information Commission (CIC).
The government had informed the Supreme Court on December 1 that the committee would meet on December 10 to select and recommend names for these posts.
Chief Information Commissioner post vacant
Currently, the post of Chief Information Commissioner is vacant as the incumbent Chief Information Commissioner, Hiralal Samariya, stepped down after completing 65 years of age on September 13. Besides the Chief Commissioner, the commission can have up to 10 commissioners. Currently, the commission has only two Information Commissioners, Anandi Ramalingam and Vinod Kumar Tiwari.
Eight posts of Information Commissioners have been vacant since November 2023. After Samariya’s departure, the post of Chief Commissioner in the CIC has become vacant for the seventh time since 2014.
How is the selection made?
According to Section 12(3) of the Right to Information Act, the Prime Minister is the chairman of the search committee. This committee also includes the Leader of the Opposition and a Union Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. Under the process of appointing the Chief Information Commissioner, details of interested candidates are invited through advertisements. These details are compiled into a list by the DoPT and sent to a search committee constituted by the Prime Minister and chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. Subsequently, the shortlisted names are sent to the committee chaired by the Prime Minister.
Edited by: Abhishek Pandey
About the Author
Abhishek Pandey is a Consultant Writer at Navbharat Times Online. He has over three years of experience working on news related to current affairs, politics, crime, and public interest. They have also covered the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2022 and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections very closely.
Courtesy: Hindi News