Modi-led panels to meet again to choose CIC, CVC chiefs

The prime minister-led selection committees could not arrive at a decision on the appointment of chiefs of Central Information Commission and Central Vigilance Commission at its meeting on Saturday and decided to meet again.

"The meeting was held in amicable atmosphere. There were certain more information and details to be obtained in reference of the candidates under consideration. Therefore, it was decided that another meeting will be called next week at a mutually-convenient date," Union Minister Jitendra Singh told PTI after the meeting.

Saturday’s meeting was convened at the prime minister's residence and was attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh and senior officials of the Prime Minister's Office.

The selection panels were also to finalise the names of Information Commissioners in CIC and Vigilance Commissioners in CVC, official sources said.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi had on May 6 questioned the delay in appointments of chiefs of CIC, CVC and Lokpal. The Right to Information Act, 2005, which ensures time bound reply to citizens query on governance matters, was brought by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

The CIC, which is mandated to resolve appeals and complaints filed against government departments or public authorities by information seekers under the Right to Information Act, has been working without its chief for over nine months.

Chief Information Commissioner Rajiv Mathur's term as head of the transparency watchdog ended on August 22, 2014. Besides, there is a vacancy of three Information Commissioners in the CIC.

There are 203 applicants for the post of the chief information commissioner and 553 for the post of Information Commissioners at the transparency panel. For the post of CIC, all the seven existing Information Commissioners have applied.

As per the RTI Act, the CIC has one chief and 10 information commissioners. There are about 39,565 pending cases in the CIC as on date. Many RTI activists have also questioned the delay in appointments in the CIC.

In CVC, Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar and Vigilance Commissioner J M Garg had completed their term on September 28 and September 7, last year, respectively.

The CVC is headed by a central vigilance commissioner and has two Vigilance Commissioners. Rajiv, a former Director General of Central Industrial Security Force, is acting as interim chief of the transparency watchdog.

About 130 applications have been received for appointments of CVC and vigilance commissioners.