Bimal Julka, former secretary to the Government of India, is a frontrunner for the post of information commissioner, something which Delhi police chief B S Bassi was so angling for.

The decision was taken by a 3-member panel comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge. MoS in the PMO, Jintendra Singh, was the special invitee.

Julka, who is said to have ties with the Congress leadership, was backed by Kharge in a bid to keep Bassi, under fire for the police inaction during the violence by lawyers in a Delhi court, out.

The panel was racing against time to meet the 6-week deadline issued by the Delhi high court to fill the three vacancies in the Central Information Commission.

Sources said the government has sent all the three shortlisted names to the President for his approval.

According to reports, others in contention are ex-secretaries to Government of India Shyamal K Sarkar and Anup K Pujari.

In December 2015, the government had appointed former defence secretary R K Mathur as Chief Information Commissioner, and he will hold the post till he reaches superannuation at 65 years, on November 25, 2018.