The Government on Friday put on hold the appointment of new chief of Central Information Commission (CIC) due to absence of the leader of the Opposition (loP) in the selection committee.
The transparency watchdog is thus headless for the first time since its inception in 2005 after Chief Information Commissioner Rajiv Mathur relinquished his charge on Friday.
The appointment of the CIC head is done by the President on the recommendation of a three-member selection committee headed by the Prime Minister and comprising loP and a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the PM. “The appointment of the new chief of the CIC has not been done as there is no loP,” official sources said.