Heeralal Samariya Named Chief Information Commissioner Day Before Deadline

Senior bureaucrat Heeralal Samariya was today sworn in as the chief of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by President Droupadi Murmu, making him the first Dalit person to hold that post. 

The top post of the transparency panel was vacant following the end of the term of YK Sinha on October 3. Mr Samariya has a distinguished career in public service, having served as Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Employment. 

The Commission is led by the Chief Information Commissioner and can have up to 10 information commissioners.

The appointment comes after the Supreme Court's October 30 directive to the central and state governments to fill the vacant positions, warning that the 2005 Right to Information Act would become ineffective otherwise.

A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud directed the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to collect information from all states on the number of authorised information commissioners in State Information Commissions (SIC), current vacancies, and the total number of pending cases.

"The Right to Information Act of 2005 will become a dead letter," the CJI said.

In December 2019, the Supreme Court instructed the central and state governments to fill all information commissioner vacancies at the CIC and SICs within three months, citing the need to develop guidelines to prevent misuse of the Right to Information Act.

The authorities concerned were also directed to disclose the names of the search committee members for the selection and appointment of information commissioners (ICs) at the CIC on their websites.