Ex-Chief Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi says a transparent procedure should be followed in the selection process.

Alarmed at speculation that Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi could be appointed Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission, RTI activist and former CIC Shailesh Gandhi on Thursday shot off a letter to the Centre objecting to the appointment.

>In a letter to Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha, Mr. Gandhi said: “There are news reports that Mr. Bassi is likely to be made an Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission. This would be a travesty of the process. There should be a transparent process for selecting an Information Commissioner in line with the spirit of the Right to Information Act.”

Pointing out that though the final selection of an Information Commissioner could be solely a political decision of the incumbent government, Mr. Gandhi said: “There should be a transparent process for short-listing the panel to be presented to the selection committee. Not doing this is doing great harm to the RTI Act.”

Stating that the choice of Mr. Bassi would be unfortunate especially in the light of the Delhi Police's failure to prevent attacks on journalists and JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, Mr. Gandhi said: “By his collusive inaction, journalists were attacked and the sanctity and respect for the judicial system and the courts was diminished. Even when a citizen does this, it is unacceptable. From a public servant charged to uphold the law, it deserves the strongest condemnation.”

“If the government now makes him an Information Commissioner, it would be a sad day for democracy, and people will believe that the denigration of the two estates of governance had the approval of the government,” he wrote.

Mr. Bassi’s actions have come under fire after television footage clearly showed Delhi lawyers attacking journalists and Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNU student leader arrested under the charge of sedition, in the presence of Delhi Police officials, who did nothing to prevent the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Opposition has accused Mr. Bassi of favouring the BJP-led government to gain a position post-retirement. The IPS officer retires from service this month.

Mr. Bassi is one of the applicants for the post of Information Commissioner. The selection panel is headed by the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM and leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge

Here is the full text of the letter:

from Shailesh Gandhi, former Central Information Commissioner

18 February 2016

To,

Mr. PK Sinha, Cabinet Secretary, Govt. of India

There are news reports that Mr. Bassi is likely to be made an Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission. This would be a travesty of the process. There should be a transparent process for selecting an Information Commissioner in line with the spirit of the Right to Information Act. I concede that the final selection is a political decision as per the Act, but there should be a transparent process for shortlisting the panel to be presented to the selection committee. Not doing this is doing great harm to the RTI Act.

At this particular moment when Mr. Bassi appears to have acquiesced to an open subversion of two of the estates of our nation, his choice would be very unfortunate. By his collusive inaction journalists were attacked and the sanctity and respect for the judicial system and the courts was diminished. Even when a citizen does this it is unacceptable. From a public servant charged to uphold the law, it deserves the strongest condemnation. Julio Ribeiro has stated with sadness “I would have arrested the lawyers from their homes at night. I would never condone such acts,“ and “I always had good opinion about Mr Bassi. Unfortunately, circumstances have changed my opinion about him. He is angling for a post-retirement job.“

If the government now makes him an Information Commissioner it would be a sad day for democracy, and people will believe that the denigration of the two estates of governance had the approval of the government. I have faith that this will not be true.

Please convey this to the Prime Minister.

Best regards

Shailesh Gandhi

Former Central Information Commissioner

I expect that I will receive a reply as per para 16 of the DOPT manual of office procedures issued in September 2010.