Process underway for selection of CIC: Minister

The government Tuesday said a process is underway for selection of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), a post which fell vacant last month.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh said a "procedure is in process" for selecting the CIC.

The post of head of the transparency watchdog fell vacant Aug 22 after Rajiv Mathur relinquished the post as the sixth CIC.

Singh said there are "some vacancies" in the Central Information Commission and they would be filled soon.

Answering queries, he said that on the question of selection of Leader of Opposition, the government has sought opinion of the Lok Sabha Secretariat on the matter.

"We have sought opinion of the Lok Sabha Secretariat, after which we will proceed in the matter. We will have a considered opinion," the minister said.

The appointment of the CIC has to be done by the president on the recommendation of a three-member selection committee headed by the prime minister, and comprising Leader of Opposition and a union cabinet minister to be nominated by the prime minister.

If Leader of Opposition has not been named, as is the case currently, the head of the single largest group in the opposition in the Lok Sabha should be considered, according to provisions of the RTI Act, 2005.

The Central Information Commmissio is the apex body for redressing Right to Information (RTI) complaints.

On the question of Leader of Opposition (LoP), the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) wrote to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, which informed the DoPT that there is no recognised LoP in the Lok Sabha.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has rejected the demand of the Congress that its nominee be recognised as LoP.

The Congress, which has 44 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, is 11 short to stake claim for LoP. It is the second largest party after the Bharatiya Janata Party that has 282 seats in the lower house.