Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the leader of the Congress’ legislative party in the Lok Sabha, on Monday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu alleging that he was “kept in the dark” about the selection of the new Chief Information Commissioner Heeralal Samariya, PTI reported.
On Monday, Murmu administered the oath of office to Samariya as the chief information commissioner in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Samariya will head the Central Information Commission, which is a transparency watchdog and the final appeal body under the Right to Information Act.
The commission’s chief is appointed by the president based on the recommendation of a selection committee headed by the prime minister. The committee also comprises a Union minister nominated by the prime minister and the leader of the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha, PTI quoted Chowdhury as saying.
The Congress is the largest Opposition party in the Lower House.
The selection committee comprises Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chowdhury.
In his letter, Chowdhury told Murmu that he was not informed about Samariya’s appointment.
“It is with extreme sadness and a heavy heart that I bring to your notice that all democratic norms, customs and procedures were thrown to the wind in the matter of selection of the central information commissioner and information commissioners,” Chowdhury said.
The Department of Personnel and Training had contacted Chowdhury’s office in the last week of October asking if he was available for the selection committee meeting, The Indian Express reported. However, his office informed the department that Chowdhury would not be able to travel to Delhi till November 2 and that he would be in West Bengal on November 3.
Despite this, the committee’s meeting was scheduled on November 3, Chowdhury said.
“The fact that within hours of the meeting in which only the PM and the Home Minister were present and the ‘face of the Opposition’, that is, me, as a bona fide member of the selection committee was not present, the names of the selected candidates were announced, notified and also sworn into office, only indicates that the entire selection exercise was predetermined,” Chowdhury alleged.
He said that it was even more blatant that he was not informed about the outcome of the meeting. “And even more glaringly, apart from being deprived of the opportunity to be a part of the meeting called in connection with the selection process, I received an invitation this morning [Monday] for attending the swearing-in ceremony of the newly selected candidates for the posts of CIC/ICs [Chief Information Commissioners/Information Commissioners,” he added.
Chowdhury urged Murmu to “take every possible measure for ensuring that our democratic traditions and ethos do not continue to get diluted by not giving the Opposition its rightful and legitimate place to be heard”.
Modi responded to Chowdhury’s allegations by saying that the Congress boycotted the meeting on Samariya’s appointment because they “hate Dalits”.
“When the Bharatiya Janata Party decided that a tribal daughter should become the country’s President, the Congress had opposed it,” the prime minister claimed at a rally in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
He added: “I cancelled my election programme and attended a meeting in Delhi – we decided to appoint a Dalit as the chief information commissioner. Look at the Congressmen, they had to come to the meeting, they were invited much before time, we had spoken to them over the phone. But as soon as they came to know that a Dalit is going to become the CIC, they boycotted the meeting.”
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