R K Mathur appointed as Chief Information Commissioner

Former Defence Secretary Radha Krishna Mathur (62) has been appointed as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).
He will have tenure of about three years (2017) till he attain the age of 65. He succeeds Vijai Sharma as he has retired after completion of his tenure.
Conventionally, the senior-most Information Commissioner is chosen as CIC. However, Mr Mathur appointment was made away from the convention of appointing senior-most serving Information Commissioner as CIC.
Background
President Pranab Mukherjee had approved the appointment R K Mathur as CIC after receiving proposal of Prime Minister led selection committee as per The Right To Information (RTI) Act, 2005. The selection committee included Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Chairman), Leader of the Largest Opposition Party in Lok Sabha, Mallikaarjun Kharge and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
About R K Mathur
R K Mathur is a retired IAS officer of Tripura cadre. He had served as Defence Secretary for two years. He also had served as Secretary Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Defence Production and Supplies.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2015