Controversial Delhi police commissioner B.S. Bassi was Friday dropped from the list of contenders for the nation’s top transparency body due to strong opposition by the Congress, sources said.
Controversial Delhi police commissioner B.S. Bassi was Friday dropped from the list of contenders for the nation’s top transparency body due to strong opposition by the Congress, sources said.
Three former bureaucrats were chosen for the Central Information Commission by a selection panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Former I&B secretary Bimal Julka, Gujarat IAS officer Amitava Bhattacharya and former IB special director D.P. Sinha were selected as information commissioners, official sources said.
The decision to drop Mr Bassi’s candidature was taken in the face of stiff opposition by Congress Lok Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge, a member of the panel.
This comes days after the attack on JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, his lawyers and mediapersons by “goon lawyers”. The inaction by Mr Bassi and his force had been widely criticised.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Bassi said this move “doesn’t make a difference” to him.
The government had earlier shortlisted Mr Bassi for the Central Information Commission, that had three vacancies. The selection committee that appoints the CIC is headed by the PM, and includes the finance minister and the Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha.
Sources said Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken earlier told Mr Kharge about the party’s reservations over Mr Bassi, faulting him on many counts, including his “failure to control law and order in Delhi”, and also over the role he had played in the JNU row. He said the party must voice its strong dissent to Mr Bassi’s candidature for the information commissioner post.
The party said that Mr Bassi in his tenure as Delhi police commissioner acted “completely contrary” to purpose of the RTI Act that envisages a confidence-building institution for the people of India. The party also raised questions over the Delhi police’s handling of incidents in the national capital over the past week, where students, faculty and journalists were attacked within and outside court premises and “despite clear evidence of offenders, the police, acting on instructions of their political masters, remained a mute spectator and later chose to file an FIR against unknown persons”.
The police commissioner is due to retire on February 29, 2016, and had been in the running for the CIC post since November 2015.
