Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah is returning to the Valley on a new assignment in which he is expected to bring the formidable weight of his experience to a range of issues of governance.

Habibullah confirmed to The Indian Express today that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has “personally requested” him to come to Srinagar as the state’s Chief Information Commissioner and he has accepted the offer.

His appointment was cleared on Thursday by a three-member panel in the state headed by the Chief Minister and which included Deputy CM Tara Chand and Opposition leader Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP. His office will be on the payroll of the state government.

Ostensibly, his brief is to strengthen the Right to Information systems in the state. Because of the state’s special status, the RTI Act enacted by Parliament in 2005 was not applicable to the state which passed its own version in March 2009. As the state’s Information Commissioner, Habibullah, 64, will interact with all government departments. It’s not clear when he will step down as CIC.

His move could have wider implications at a time when the Omar Abdullah government has been criticised for its “knee-jerk” responses to a string of recent crises including the Shopian tragedy. Omar has also been under attack for being a “non-resident” CM.

“With Wajahat Habibullah being there, on Omar’s request, the government could benefit greatly from having someone like him in the system,” said a senior officer in the Valley.

Not without reason. An IAS officer, Habibullah served in J&K between 1968 and 1982. He returned to the state twice to handle sensitive assignments. His most recent formal posting was in 1994, when he is known to have been a key negotiator in the Hazratbal siege by militants. His tenure then was cut short by a near-fatal car accident.

... contd.