A three-member committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is likely to meet on Wednesday to decide the next Chief Information Commissioner and information commissioners for eight vacant positions at the Central Information Commission (CIC).
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.
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 opposition and a Union minister nominated by the prime minister, that selects and recommends the names for appointment as Chief Information Commissioner and information commissioners.
According to the Act, the CIC has a Chief Information Commissioner and 10 Information Commissioners who adjudicate complaints and appeals filed by the 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.
The highest appellate authority to adjudicateI-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.
In a 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.
According to the procedure for the appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner, particulars of interested persons are invited through advertisements in newspapers and through the DoPT website.
These details are tabulated by DoPT and sent to a search committee constituted by the prime minister and chaired by the cabinet secretary.
The names as well as the shortlisted ones along with their applications are sent to the committee headed by the prime minister and also comprising the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha and a cabinet minister.
Persons recommended by the prime minister-led committee are appointed by the President.