Former SC judge Ranjana Prakash Desai likely to be next Chairperson of Press Council of India

Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, a former judge of the Supreme Court who headed the Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir, is likely to be the next Chairperson of the Press Council of India.

The appointment order will be issued soon, sources said, adding the government is in the process of finalising the names of other members of the PCI.

The post was lying vacant since November last year after Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad (Retd) completed his term as the PCI chairperson.

Sources said the 72-year-old judge has been selected for the post by a committee comprising Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and PCI member Prakash Dubey.

Recently, she had submitted the report of the Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir, which was constituted to redraw the constituencies of the union territory.

She had also served as a judge in Bombay High Court and after her retirement from the Supreme Court, she was appointed the Chairperson of the Indian Appellate Tribunal for Electricity as well as that of the Advance Ruling Authority (Income Tax).

Justice Desai also headed the Search Committee for the Lokpal Chairperson and members.