NEW DELHI: Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi has become the first political casualty of the JNU row. A strong contender for the position of Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission, Bassi’s name was dropped at the eleventh hour by the NDA government to avoid further controversy.
Bassi is retiring on February 29 and he was tipped to become Information Commissioner. According to sources, when the panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sat down to pick the three Information Commissioners, Bassi’s file was missing.
The panel, sources said, picked former Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka, former Chairman of the Staff Selection Commission Amitava Bhattacharya and former Special Director of Intelligence Bureau D P Sinha as Information Commissioners.
It is learnt that Congress Leader Mallikarjun Kharge had opposed Bassi’s candidature.