The DMK government has defeated the objective of the Right to Information Act by appointing a new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) without consulting the Leader of the Opposition, AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa said on Monday.
“The leader of the Opposition has been included in the select committee to ensure transparent procedure in the selection of the CIC. Since the selection has not been done transparently, it is nothing but illegal,” she said in a statement.
Reacting to reports that she had not even sent her representative to attend the meeting, whereas M. Karunanidhi had deputed the then Leader of the Opposition K. Anbazhagan to the CIC selection committee meeting in 2005, Ms. Jayalalithaa said Mr. Anbazhgan attended the meeting in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition and not as a representative of Mr. Karunanidhi. She also explained that she would have attended the meeting and expressed her opinion had she been given the details about the candidates under consideration.
