Kashmir to appoint chairman of Accountability Commission

JAMMU - The Jammu and Kashmir government has speeded up the process of appointing the chairman of the Accountability Commission, an anti-graft body in the state.

The post of the chairman has been vacant for over two years, mainly because of the situation in the Kashmir Valley, particularly after the Amarnath land row in 2008.

“Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has discussed the matter with Governor N.N. Vohra and soon an announcement is expected to be made,” a highly placed source told IANS.

“It will happen soon after the chief minister returns from Delhi,” the source said.

The Accountability Commission was set up in 2003. Its first chairman was Justice R.P. Sethi, a retired Supreme Court judge, but he resigned in 2006 after allegations of his son’s involvement in a sex scandal.

There were interim arrangements but since 2008 the commission has not had a chairman.