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| Will J&K Babus bow to Wajahat like Delhi HC? | | |
ABID SHAH
NEW DELHI, Nov. 9: Famed bureaucrat, Mr Wajahat Habibullah, got a pat on the back on Monday by Delhi High Court. This happened during a hearing on a petition filed by certain social activists against appointment of a bureaucrat as his successor or as Chief Information Commissioner for the Central Government after he leaves Delhi for Srinagar to set up and head the right to information mechanism for Jammu and Kashmir.
Hearing the petition, the Delhi High Court Chief Justice AP Shah and Justice S Murlidhar cited highly successful and transparent functioning of the CIC, Mr Wjahat Habibullah, and observed “that it was a misconception that appointment of a civil servant is not good for the post of CIC.” The petitioners are seeking preference for a social worker over bureaucrat while appointing Mr Habibullah’s successor at the Centre.
Earlier, Mr Habibullah has accepted Chief Minister, Mr Omar Abdullah’s offer to join the office of Chief Information Commissioner of Jammu and Kashmir. Yet the seasoned civil servant has thus far not been relieved of his responsibilities as CIC by the Central Government. As he has expressed his keenness to go back to Jammu and Kashmir to whose cadre he belongs to as an Indian Administrative Service officer since late nineteen-sixties, a race for his successor in Delhi has begun.
Chances of two Information Commissioners under him to step into his shoes came under a cloud when few eminent personalities like social worker from Maharashtra Anna Hazare and film actor like Amir Khan wrote a letter to Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to appoint former IPS officer Ms Kiran Bedi as CIC in Delhi once Mr Habibullah leaves for Jammu and Kashmir.
These manoeuvres have filled the air with high expectations vis-à-vis the appointment of Mr Habibullah’s successor in Delhi as also Mr Wajahat Habibullah’s next move once he gets in saddle as CIC of the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
A clue about his intentions somehow came out on Monday when a long interview given by Mr Habibullah was published by a leading national newspaper here. Among other things, Mr Habibullah advocated need for declaration of personal, spouse’s and family’s assets by bureaucrats or civil servants, saying “if this could become a norm for judges then why can’t it be so in our (bureaucrats’) case”.
He even volunteered to declare his own assets. Yet if charity is to begin from home, Mr Habibullah may soon have an opportunity to implement what he says. Whatever may be the case after his joining as CIC of J&K, his actions and moves are going to be watched assiduously. This is going to be more so vis-à-vis the demeanour of his peers from the home cadre of Jammu and Kashmir in case he tries to enforce what he says with regard to declaration of assets by them.
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