New Delhi, Feb 19 :
Dropping controversial Delhi Police chief B S Bassi from the list of contenders, three former bureaucrats were today chosen Commissioners in Central Information Commission by a selection panel led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Former Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka, Gujarat cadre IAS officer Amitava Bhattacharya and former Special Director of Intelligence Bureau D P Sinha have been selected as Information Commissioners in the transparency panel, official sources said.
Besides the Prime Minister, the meeting was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Congress Leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, who is also MoS DoPT, attended the meeting as a special invitee.
The decision to drop Bassi’s candidature was taken in the face of stiff opposition from Congress Leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
Kharge is believed to have presented a note citing several instances including the alleged inaction of Delhi Police during two days of violence in Patiala House Court complex during the hearing of JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar’s case this week.
Bassi had also come under attack from other opposition parties, rights activists and others over the violence in the court premises.
However, Bassi, who retires as Delhi’s top cop this month end, said he was not disappointed. He had applied for the post.
“I am happy and have no issues with that (the decision). I am not disappointed,” the police chief said, adding that it won’t be a legitimate thing to comment further on the decision made by the selection panel.
Julka, a 1979 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, retired as Information and Broadcasting Secretary in August last year.
His batchmate and retired IPS officer Sinha last served as Secretary (security) in the Cabinet Secretariat after a long stint in the Intelligence Bureau during which he headed the prestigious Operations unit.
Under his leadership, the agency had been able to trace the footprints of American-born Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist David Headley in India after his role in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks was unearthed by the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Bhattacharya, a 1980-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, retired in 2013 after serving as Chairman, Staff Selection Commission.
Sources said the recommendations of the selection panel has been sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent so that final orders for their appointments can be issued.
There is a vacancy of three Information Commissioners against its total strength of 10. With today’s decision, all vacancies in the CIC will be filled up.
The meeting of the selection panel was held to meet Supreme Court’s six-week deadline for the appointments. The apex court had on January 8, asked the Government to appoint three Information Commissioners within six weeks.
A 1977-batch IPS officer, Bassi’s name was shortlisted last November by a search committee headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha.
Bassi had applied for both the post of Information Commissioner and Central Information Commissioner. The Government had in December appointed former Defence Secretary
R K Mathur as head of the transparency panel. Mathur has tenure as CIC till he attains the age of 65 on November 25, 2018. (PTI)
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