New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS) The new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) is expected to be announced this week and will be from within the Central Information Commission, said highly placed sources.
“The announcement will be this week once the current parliament session ends,” a top government official told IANS.

The government is yet to name a successor to Wajahat Habibullah after he resigned in October to take up his new job as the head of the Information Commission of Jammu and Kashmir.

He is shifting to Kashmir on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s request.

“I have not been relieved and will move on to my next assignment once the government announces my successor,” Habibullah told IANS.

The CIC is appointed by a committee which comprises the prime minister, leader of the opposition and a cabinet minister.

One such meeting took place last month between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party’s L.K. Advani and Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily.

But it remained inconclusive as Advani expressed reservations about the selection process of the new CIC.

Prior to the meeting, Magsaysay award winner and prominent Right to Information (RTI) activist Arvind Kejriwal along with others had shot off letters to Manmohan Singh, Advani and Congress president Sonia Gandhi demanding a transparent, inclusive and participatory process for CIC’s selection.

The RTI Act 2005 specifies the composition of the selection committee but does not talk about advertising and shortlisting of CICs.

At the meeting, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the nodal department to handle RTI, come up with names of the present information commissioner M.M. Ansari and RTI activist Shekhar Singh for the post.

After Advani’s reservations, a decision was deferred till the return of the prime minister from his US visit.

Ansari, who is among the favourites for the post, has been severely criticised by activists for being soft on bureaucrats and not levying penalties on erring officials.

“The new CIC is expected to be from among the present commissioners. It seems the government is not keen on bringing someone else for the top post,” a source said.

Bollywood star Aamir Khan, social activist Anna Hazare and a host of other eminent citizens had vigorously campaigned for IPS officer Kiran Bedi.

Government sources pointed out that Bedi’s name was not being considered.

The delay in the selection of new CIC has however shortened the duration of Habibullah’s stay as the head of Jammu and Kashmir’s information commission. He will now have only 10 months to set up the body.