NEW DELHI: Information Commissioner A N Tiwari has been appointed as the new Chief Information Commissioner to succeed incumbent Wajahat Habibullah whose five-year term as head of the transparency panel ended today.
President Pratibha Patil this evening gave assent to the name of Tiwari, a 1969-batch IAS officer who was also a former Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training, official sources said.
A notification in this regard is likely to be issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.
Tiwari, who joined the Central Information Commission on December 26, 2005 will have a tenure of three months as his five-year term will end in December this year.
According to the RTI Act, "where the Information Commissioner is appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner, his term of office shall not be more than five years in aggregate as the Information Commissioner and the Chief Information Commissioner".
In one of the path-breaking decisions, Tiwari as Information Commissioner brought the Income Tax returns of political parties under public scrutiny.
The Chief Information Commissioner is chosen by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and a minister of the Union Cabinet.