At Meeting With PM Modi, Amit Shah To Pick New CIC, Others, Lop Rahul Gandhi Submits 'Dissent' Note

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, met on Wednesday to appoint a new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), eight Information Commissioners, and a new member to the Vigilance Commission, according to news agency ANI.

The meeting, held in the Prime Minister's chamber in Parliament, comes after a heated exchange of 'vote chori' in Parliament during the ongoing Winter Session and lasted 90 minutes from 1 PM on Wednesday. Rahul Gandhi has reportedly submitted a dissent note during the meeting, according to Congress leaders f

In his Lok Sabha speech on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi had said that he had“no voice in such meetings because the ratio is 2:1".

The three leaders comprise the three-member committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also including Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi.

The government had informed the Supreme Court on December 1 that the Prime Minister Modi-led panel is likely to meet on December 10 to select and recommend names for these posts.

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The CIC and 10 Information Commissioners are tasked with reviewing complaints and appeals filed by applicants under RTI Act against unsatisfactory responses by government officials to their applications.

Under Section 12(3) of the Right to Information Act, the Prime Minister is the chairperson of the committee, which also comprises the Leader of the Opposition and a Union Minister nominated by the Prime Minister, who selects and recommends names for appointment as Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners.

The meeting discussed the next Chief Information Commissioner and information commissioners for eight vacant positions at the Central Information Commission (CIC).

Congress's Past Dissent over CIC Pick

In earlier instances, too, Congress had questioned the CIC appointment process. In 2020, for example, the then Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, gave a dissent note earlier this month over the process of selection in the CIC, alleging that the government violated Supreme Court guidelines in the appointment process

30,000+ pending cases

According to the RTI Act, the CIC has a Chief Information Commissioner and 10 Information Commissioners who adjudicate complaints and appeals filed by the RTI applicants against the unsatisfactory orders of government officials on their applications.

The CIC, which is staring at 30,838 pending cases, according to its website, is left with just two information commissioners -- Anandi Ramalingam and Vinod Kumar Tiwari -- with eight vacancies.

Also Read | Govt invites applications for post of CIC chief, information commissioners

The highest appellate authority to adjudicate RTI-related complaints and appeals had gone headless for the seventh time since 2014 after incumbent Chief Information Commissioner Heeralal Samariya demitted office on September 13.

The Commission had become headless for the first time after then CIC Rajiv Mathur demitted office in August 2014.

Samariya, who had become the Chief Information Commissioner on November 6, 2023, demitted office on attaining the age of 65 years, according to an office order issued by the Commission.

83 applications for CIC

In an RTI response to activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (retired), the Department of Personnel and Training had said that 83 applications were received for the post of Chief Information Commissioner in response to its advertisement issued on May 21.

It also said that 161 applications were received in response to an advertisement issued on August 14, 2024, for the vacancies against the post of Information Commissioners in the CIC.

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According to the procedure for appointing the Chief Information Commissioner, particulars of interested persons are invited through advertisements in newspapers and on the DoPT website.

These details are tabulated by the DoPT and sent to a Search Committee constituted by the Prime Minister, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary.

The Commission had become headless for the first time after then CIC Rajiv Mathur demitted office in August 2014.

The names as well as the shortlisted ones along with their applications are sent to the PM-led committee. Persons recommended by the prime minister-led committee are appointed by the President.

Key Takeaways

• The CIC currently faces over 30,000 pending RTI cases due to a lack of information commissioners.
• The appointment process involves a committee chaired by the Prime Minister and includes the Leader of Opposition.
• The CIC has been headless multiple times since 2014, highlighting systemic issues in the appointment process.

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