Tribune News Service,New Delhi, December 17

Suspense seems to be over on the appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), as Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led committee, which comprises leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikaarjun Kharge, is believed to have cleared former Defence Secretary RK Mathur for the post.The post has been lying vacant for the past 15 days. Sources in the government said the meeting of the selection committee, which was held at the Prime Minister’s office in Parliament on Wednesday, was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Kharge.The tenure of Mathur, who was born in 1953, will be for three years from the day he takes charge of office. The RTI Act says a person can hold the office of CIC for five years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is less.The Central Information Commission has been headless for the second time since the BJP government came to power in 2014, after Vijai Sharma completed his tenure on December 1.The transparency watchdog was without its chief for nearly 10 months after completion of the tenure of the then Chief Information Commissioner Rajiv Mathur in August 2014.As Defence Secretary, Mathur, a 1977-batch IAS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre, served in the government till May.