India
Kept in the dark: Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on selection of Chief Information Commissioner | India News
NEW DELHI: Congress MP and member of the choice committee for appointment of the Chief Info Commissioner, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written to President Droupadi Murmu, saying he was “saved at nighttime” within the choice course of and that each one democratic norms, customs and procedures had been “thrown to the wind”.
Within the letter, Chowdhury stated the voice of the Opposition has been “ignored” and that isn’t good for democracy.
Former IAS officer Heeralal Samariya was on Monday sworn in because the Chief Info Commissioner by President Murmu.
Chowdhury alleged that his plea for change of timing of the assembly of the choice committee, which is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was not modified from night to morning of November 3 and that he was not even knowledgeable concerning the selections taken.
“Given the info pertaining to all the choice course of as introduced out above, I might urge upon you to take each potential measure for guaranteeing that our democratic traditions and ethos don’t proceed to get diluted by not giving the opposition its rightful and legit place to be heard,” Chowdhury stated within the letter to the President. The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament stated regardless of being a member of the choice committee, he was “completely saved at nighttime” concerning the choice of the CIC/ICS, on the assembly that was held on the residence of the prime minister at 6 PM on November 3.
“The truth that inside hours of the assembly through which solely the prime minister and the house minister had been current and the ‘face of the opposition’, that’s, me, as a bona-fide member of the choice committee was not current, the names of the chosen candidates had been introduced, notified and likewise sworn into Workplace, solely signifies that all the choice train was pre-determined,” he alleged.
“The method, because it unfolded inside a brief span, will not be conducive to your democratic ethos and norms,” Chowdhury claimed.
“It’s with excessive disappointment and a heavy coronary heart that I convey to your discover that each one democratic norms, customs and procedures had been thrown to the wind within the matter of choice of the Central Info Commissioner and Info Commissioners,” he stated in his letter.
He stated the Proper to Info Act, 2005, in consonance with democratic norms and traditions envisages that the voice of the Opposition too is heard within the means of choice of the Chief Info Commissioner and Info Commissioners.
“I, as a member representing the most important Opposition Social gathering within the choice committee to those all-important posts underneath the landmark RTI Act, was extraordinarily eager and enthusiastic to partake within the choice course of by attending the assembly, had it been convened at a time that may have been appropriate to all members,” he stated.
Sadly, whereas the scheduled time of the choice assembly at 6 PM on November 3 suited the prime minister and the house minister regardless of their hectic electioneering schedules, his plea for re-scheduling the assembly, to be held within the morning on the identical day was “completely disregarded” and all his “honest efforts” to attend the assembly failed, he said.
“Extra blatant is the truth that I used to be not even knowledgeable of the end result of the assembly. And much more obviously, other than being disadvantaged of the chance to be part of the assembly referred to as in reference to the choice course of, I obtained an invite this morning for attending the swearing-in ceremony of the newly chosen candidates for the posts of CIC/ICS,” the Congress chief stated.
The publish was mendacity vacant following the completion of Y Ok Sinha’s tenure on October 3.
Samariya, the primary Dalit to have been appointed to the publish, was working as info commissioner within the transparency panel Central Info Fee (CIC).
The swearing-in ceremony on the Rashtrapati Bhavan was attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Modi and Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh amongst others.
The Supreme Courtroom had on October 30 requested the Centre and the state governments to take steps to fill the publish, saying in any other case the 2005 regulation on the Proper to Info would change into a “useless letter”.
Within the letter, Chowdhury stated the voice of the Opposition has been “ignored” and that isn’t good for democracy.
Former IAS officer Heeralal Samariya was on Monday sworn in because the Chief Info Commissioner by President Murmu.
Chowdhury alleged that his plea for change of timing of the assembly of the choice committee, which is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was not modified from night to morning of November 3 and that he was not even knowledgeable concerning the selections taken.
“Given the info pertaining to all the choice course of as introduced out above, I might urge upon you to take each potential measure for guaranteeing that our democratic traditions and ethos don’t proceed to get diluted by not giving the opposition its rightful and legit place to be heard,” Chowdhury stated within the letter to the President. The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament stated regardless of being a member of the choice committee, he was “completely saved at nighttime” concerning the choice of the CIC/ICS, on the assembly that was held on the residence of the prime minister at 6 PM on November 3.
“The truth that inside hours of the assembly through which solely the prime minister and the house minister had been current and the ‘face of the opposition’, that’s, me, as a bona-fide member of the choice committee was not current, the names of the chosen candidates had been introduced, notified and likewise sworn into Workplace, solely signifies that all the choice train was pre-determined,” he alleged.
“The method, because it unfolded inside a brief span, will not be conducive to your democratic ethos and norms,” Chowdhury claimed.
“It’s with excessive disappointment and a heavy coronary heart that I convey to your discover that each one democratic norms, customs and procedures had been thrown to the wind within the matter of choice of the Central Info Commissioner and Info Commissioners,” he stated in his letter.
He stated the Proper to Info Act, 2005, in consonance with democratic norms and traditions envisages that the voice of the Opposition too is heard within the means of choice of the Chief Info Commissioner and Info Commissioners.
“I, as a member representing the most important Opposition Social gathering within the choice committee to those all-important posts underneath the landmark RTI Act, was extraordinarily eager and enthusiastic to partake within the choice course of by attending the assembly, had it been convened at a time that may have been appropriate to all members,” he stated.
Sadly, whereas the scheduled time of the choice assembly at 6 PM on November 3 suited the prime minister and the house minister regardless of their hectic electioneering schedules, his plea for re-scheduling the assembly, to be held within the morning on the identical day was “completely disregarded” and all his “honest efforts” to attend the assembly failed, he said.
“Extra blatant is the truth that I used to be not even knowledgeable of the end result of the assembly. And much more obviously, other than being disadvantaged of the chance to be part of the assembly referred to as in reference to the choice course of, I obtained an invite this morning for attending the swearing-in ceremony of the newly chosen candidates for the posts of CIC/ICS,” the Congress chief stated.
The publish was mendacity vacant following the completion of Y Ok Sinha’s tenure on October 3.
Samariya, the primary Dalit to have been appointed to the publish, was working as info commissioner within the transparency panel Central Info Fee (CIC).
The swearing-in ceremony on the Rashtrapati Bhavan was attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Modi and Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh amongst others.
The Supreme Courtroom had on October 30 requested the Centre and the state governments to take steps to fill the publish, saying in any other case the 2005 regulation on the Proper to Info would change into a “useless letter”.
