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The new chief information commissioner of India would be chosen by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Opposition Leader L K Advani and Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily today evening.
The major contenders for the position are M.M. Ansari, who holds the post of the information commissioner now and Shekhar Singh, who is an eminent Right to Information activist.
"The meeting is expected to take place today (Friday) evening as the prime minister has to leave for his trip to the US Saturday," a government official said.
The post has remained vacant since CIC Wajahat Habibullah quit the post for take charge as head of Information Commission of Jammu and Kashmir.
The meeting is under the strict watch of Right to Information (RTI) activists from across the country, who has demanded the selection process to be transparent, inclusive and participatory one.
The activists have also asked the government to make public the shortlisted candidates and how they were shortlisted.
A DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training), official has mentioned that: "Present information commissioner M.M. Ansari and RTI activist Shekhar Singh are the frontrunners."
