The coveted chief information commissioner's post in Jammu and Kashmir went to GR Sofi, presently chief commissioner, Income Tax, Amritsar region. Sofi, an Indian Revenue Service officer of 1977 batch will retire shortly.
The chief information commissioner's post has a tenure of five years and there were two close contenders besides Sofi for the top job including the present state chief secretary, S S Kapoor and a retired senior police officer.
Nobody could be nominated for the post as the much awaited meeting for the selection which needed the presence of the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Mehbooba Mufti could not be held. The meeting chaired by the state chief minister, Omar Abdullah was held in Jammu attended by the deputy chief minister, Tara Chand and Mehbooba Mufti.
The committee will meet again before the start of assembly session to finalize the names of two state information commissioners for the State Information Commission, according to an official statement.
