Chennai: The vacant state chief information commissioner post and three information commissioner posts of the State Information panel are likely to be filled in two months, as the state govt has formed a search committee to shortlist suitable candidates.Retired Madras high court judge R S Ramanathan has been appointed as the chairperson of the search committee, while principal secretary C Samayamoorthy and retired IAS official R Sudalaikannan have been appointed as members. The committee will shortlist candidates for chief information commissioner and four information commissioners as one more commissioner M Natesan will retire on August 3.The number of commissioners disposing of appeals and complaint petitions under the Right to Information Act at the State information commission plunged to five from nine on June 15, as the three-year term of four officials – chief information commissioner MD Shakeel Akhter, information commissioners Thirumalaimuthu, P Thamaraikannan and R Priyakumar came to an end.Now, V P R Elamparithi, retired IAS official Atulya Misra, retired IPS official Abhay Kumar Singh, and A Vijayaram serve as information commissioners to dispose of appeals and complaint petitions filed under RTI Act.The search committee will shortlist candidates in compliance with eligibility criteria and recommend them to the selection committee chaired by chief minister C Joseph Vijay, before they are formally appointed.
