Modi-led panel meets to select CIC, Rahul dissents

A Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led committee met on Wednesday to select the Chief Information Commissioner and eight Information Commissioners, with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi submitting a dissent note.

Under Section 12 (3) of the Right to Information Act, the CIC and information commissioners are selected by a panel, led by the PM and comprising a minister nominated by him and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.

The meeting held today lasted for nearly one-and-a-half hours and was attended by Home Minister Amit Shah and Rahul Gandhi. The names of selected candidates were not immediately known.

Sources said Rahul Gandhi asked questions about the criteria adopted to select the CIC and Information Commissioners and gave a dissent note, red flagging "exclusion of marginalised sections" in the selection process.

The post of CIC fell vacant on September 13 this year when incumbent Heeralal Samariya demitted office at the age of 65. In response to an advertisement issued on May 21, around 83 applications were received.

As many as 30,838 cases are pending Central Information Commission's adjudication, with the commission currently headless and working with just two information commissioners out of the mandated 10.