Delhi Police chief B S Bassi was not included in the list of officers in the race for the post of Information Commissioner in Central Information Commission. The decision to drop Bassi by the selection panel, headed by the Prime Minister, comes in the wake of Jawaharlal Nehru University row. The Congress was not in favour of appointing Bassi. The panel, attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, met in Delhi on Friday morning at the Prime Minister's South Block office.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh also attended the meeting as a special invitee. There is a vacancy of three Information Commissioners against its total strength of 10. The names of candidates for all three vacancies were decided at today's meeting.
Sources said the selection panel has sent its recommendation to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent so that final orders for their appointments can be issued. Earlier, apart from Bassi, the panel had shortlisted former Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) Shyamal K Sarkar, Anup K Pujari, the then Secretary of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and former Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka.
On his part, Bassi said said that he is not at all disappointed over the decision to drop his name from the list of contenders for the post of Information Commissioner in CIC. "I am happy and have no issues with that (the decision). I am not dissapointed," the police chief said, adding that it won't be a legitimate thing to comment further on the decision made by a selection panel led by the Prime Minister. "It (the decision) doesn't affect me," Bassi added.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh also attended the meeting as a special invitee. There is a vacancy of three Information Commissioners against its total strength of 10. The names of candidates for all three vacancies were decided at today's meeting.
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Sources said the selection panel has sent its recommendation to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent so that final orders for their appointments can be issued. Earlier, apart from Bassi, the panel had shortlisted former Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) Shyamal K Sarkar, Anup K Pujari, the then Secretary of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and former Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka.
On his part, Bassi said said that he is not at all disappointed over the decision to drop his name from the list of contenders for the post of Information Commissioner in CIC. "I am happy and have no issues with that (the decision). I am not dissapointed," the police chief said, adding that it won't be a legitimate thing to comment further on the decision made by a selection panel led by the Prime Minister. "It (the decision) doesn't affect me," Bassi added.