BS Bassi no longer contender for post of Information Commissioner in CIC?

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Feb 19, 2016: Delhi Police Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi is no longer the contender for the post of Information Commissioner in Central Information Commission (CIC).

"It doesn`t matter to me," Bassi told reporters here when he was asked about reports that the government has dropped his name from the list of potential candidates for the top post at CIC.

The Opposition led by the Congress had strongly objected to the government`s move to include Bassi in the list of candidates being considered for the post of information commissioner.

In fact, the Congress has been demanding his removal as Delhi Police commissioner over the alleged mishandling of JNU protests and violent incidents that followed.

The police has come in for flak for slapping sedition charges against Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Kanhaiya Kumar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee is likely to meet soon to decide on names for three vacant posts of Information Commissioners in the transparency watchdog, official sources said.

Bassi, who is due to retire this month-end, was one of the applicants for the post of Information Commissioner, they said.

Earlier report said that his name was shortlisted last November by a search committee headed by Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha.

Bassi is a 1977 batch IPS officer of union territories cadre.

There is a vacancy of three Information Commissioners against its total strength of 10.

Besides him, 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 were also shortlisted then.

Bassi had applied for both the post of Information Commissioner and Central Information Commissioner against the government’s order issued in September last.

The government had in December appointed former defence secretary RK Mathur as head of the transparency panel. Mathur has tenure as CIC till he attains the age of 65 on November 25, 2018.