New Delhi: The Congress has raised objections with the Central Government's decision to appoint new Information Commissioners, calling it 'another attempt by the ruling BJP' to weaken the Indian institutions. The opposition party said that the BJP did not follow the guidelines of the Supreme Court.
Earlier, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhary had raised objections with the new appointment, calling it 'dissent'.
Former diplomat and Central Information Commissioner Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha is tipped to be the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), two months after the position fell vacant. It is also speculated that journalist Uday Mahurkar may be appointed as the Information Commissioner.
Being a member of the three-member selection committee, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary had raised objections over the process of appointments of new Information Commissioners, alleging that the Supreme Court's transparency guidelines of February 2019, were not being followed. In his dissent note, he also stated that Uday Mahurkar was not even in the list of applicants.
Speaking over the matter, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, "This is yet another example of the systematic annihilation of institutions, to defunct them, to take the power away from them and the idea is to just to make them rubberstamps."
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had received 139 applications for the CIC position and 355 applications for the post of IC, which are later being shortlisted by a search committee for the consideration of high-power Selection Committee, consisting of PM, Home Minister, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, to decide over the final appointment.
YK Sinha, who had been selected for the CIC, had also served as India's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka. In January 2019, he was appointed as a member of the Central Information Commission, the top RTI body. However, Chowdhary has questioned over his 'on-ground' domestic experience on the issues pertaining to the general public and suggested the name of Vanaja N. Sarna, the senior-most Information Commissioner.
While Uday Mahurkar is a senior journalist and author of the books on Modi Government including 'Marching with a Billion'. He claims to be a follower of Savarkar, a controversial right-wing figure.
"Here, we have people who blatantly endorsed Mr Modi's ideology, there is no objectivity and still they've made the cut for this position. The lack of transparency, the opacity and the whole attempt to weaken India's institutions are what we are strictly against," said Supriya Shrinate.
On Thursday, Mahurkar replied to a congratulatory message of an RSS Swayamsevak and BJP Tamil Nadu Spokesperson SG Suryah, by tweeting, "Thank You SG Surya Ji. An opportunity to serve the nation in Veer Savarkar's spirit of true Nation first."
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In the Selection Committee meeting on October 24, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary had referred to the articles and comments of Mahurkar on social media, arguing that he is 'an open supporter' of the ruling government and its ideology.
For the post of Information Commissioners, seven names were being proposed by the search committee. Chowdhary's dissent note has stated that he is 'appalled' as search committee 'failed' to give reasons for choosing these candidates instead of others and alleged that Mahurkar has been 'skydropped' in the list of applicants.
When contacted, the former Union Ministers of UPA Government had refused to comment over the matter, stating that the Congress' take has been stated by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary in his note.
Meanwhile, Activist Anjali Bhardwaj has approached the Supreme Court of India seeking urgent hearing on the matter of defying transparency guidelines by Central Government in the appointments of Information Commissioners.
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