PM to meet Advani, Moily on Friday, to finalise new CIC
Agencies Posted online: Thursday , Nov 19, 2009 at 1331 hrs
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to meet Opposition
Leader L K Advani and Law Minister Veerappa Moily on Friday to
finalise the name of the new Chief Information Commissioner.
Official sources said the meeting is likely to take place tomorrow
evening - a day before Singh leaves for his State visit to the US.
The meeting, which will take place almost a month after incumbent CIC
Wajahat Habibullah resigned, is being looked forward to by RTI
activists who are demanding transparency in the selection process and
pressing for the appointment of a non-bureaucrat to the post.
While there is no official confirmation about the candidates
shortlisted for the post, several names, including those of Civil
Aviation Secretary Madhavan Nambiar, environmentalist Shekhar Singh
and Information Commissioner A N Tiwari are doing rounds.
The PM-Advani meeting to finalise the name for the coveted post was to
take place on October 27 but it was deferred with the authorities
citing no reason.
The activists had also written to Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi
and Leader of Opposition L K Advani asking to finalise the rules and
process for the selection of the CIC before naming the new chief.
They said while the RTI Act specifies the composition of selection
committee but it is silent about the process like advertising and
shortlisting to be adopted before finalising the name.
A PIL filed by the activists at the Delhi High Court seeking
transparency in the selection process was also turned down. The court
advised the appellants that they should build a public movement to
garner support for making necessary changes in the transparency law.
As per the law, the charge of the CIC cannot be handed over to any
other person on ad hoc basis. Even if Habibullah wishes to do so, the
new person's name needs to be ratified by the three-member committee.
Habibullah will be joining as the first State Information Commissioner
of Jammu and Kashmir soon.
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