‘Kept in dark’: Adhir Chowdhury writes to President Murmu over CIC selection
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said he was ‘totally kept in the dark’ about the selection of Heeralal Samariya as the new chief information commissioner despite being a member of the Selection Committee
Congress Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has said in a letter to President Droupadi Murmu that he was “totally kept in the dark” about the selection of Heeralal Samariya as the new chief information commissioner (CIC) despite being a member of the Selection Committee, and appealed to the president “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.”
“I, despite being a Member of the Selection Committee in my capacity as the Leader of the largest Opposition Party in Lok Sabha was totally kept in the dark about the selection of the CIC/ICs, at the Meeting that was held at the residence of the Prime Minister at 6.00 PM on 3 November,2023. The fact that within hours of the Meeting in which only the Prime Minister 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 pre-determined. Madam President, you will appreciate the fact that the process, as it unfolded within a short span, is not conducive for your democratic ethos and norms,” Chowdhury wrote to President Murmu on Monday.
Samariya, a senior bureaucrat and former information commissioner, took over as CIC after Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha retired in October. He was sworn in on Monday by President Murmu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present at the event. The three-member panel to select CIC comprises the PM, the Union home minister and the leader of the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha.
Chowdhury said that he had requested the government to change the time of the selection meeting but it was not accepted. He claimed that the government didn’t even inform him about the selection of Samariya.
“Unfortunately, while the scheduled time of the Selection Meeting at 6.00 PM on 3 November, 2023 suited the Prime Minister and the Home Minister despite their hectic electioneering schedules, my plea for re-scheduling the Meeting, to be held in the morning on the same day i.e. 3 November,2023 was totally disregarded, and all my sincere efforts to attend the Meeting failed. More blatant is the fact that I was not even informed of 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 for attending the Swearing-in ceremony of the newly selected candidates for the Posts of CIC/ICs,” he wrote to Murmu.
The Congress leader claimed that all democratic norms, customs and procedures were thrown out the window during the selection process.
“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 (CIC) and Information Commissioners. The Right to Information Act, 2005, in consonance with our democratic norms and traditions envisages that the voice of the Opposition too is heard in the process of selection of CIC/ICs. To meet this democratic end , the Leader of the Largest Opposition Party in Lok Sabha serves as a Member of the Selection Committee which is chaired by the Prime Minister, with the Home Minister being the other Member,” he wrote.
There was no immediate response from the government to Chowdhury’s charges.
On November 1, Chowdhury also informed Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) minister Jitendra Singh that he would be unable to attend the meeting to select the new CIC on November 3 evening and requested to reschedule it.
“As for the schedule of the Meeting, my office was continuously in touch with the Officers concerned of DOPT. It was informed in very clear terms that owing to a pre-scheduled function that I have to attend in West Bengal, it would not be possible for me to attend the Meeting as per the schedule proposed. It was requested that the Meeting may be re-scheduled to be held on 1st or 2nd November,2023 or at 9.00 AM on 3 November,2023 instead of 6.00 P.M on that day,” he wrote to Singh.
“I am in receipt of the communication from DOPT informing me that the meeting of the Committee that has been constituted under the Right to Information Act, 2005 under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister for recommending names for appointment to the posts of Chief Information Commissioner (CEC) and Information Commissioners (ICs) is scheduled to be held at 6 PM on 3.11.2023 at the residence of the Prime Minister. As I am committed to attend the pre-scheduled Meeting in the evening of 3 November,2023, I am compelled to express my inability to attend the Meeting as per the schedule proposed,” he wrote.
