Information Commissioner Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha will be administered the oath as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on Saturday, officials said on Friday.
Sinha, a former diplomat, will be administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind, they said. Journalist Uday Mahurkar, former Labour Secretary Heera Lal Samariya and former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General Saroj Punhani will be administered the oath as the Information Commissioners by Sinha, the officials said. The selection of Sinha, Mahurkar, Samariya and Punhani was done by a three-member committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Besides Modi, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Home Minister Amit Shah are members of the panel. Sinha joined as the Information Commissioner on January 1, 2019. He has served as India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka.
The post of Chief Information Commissioner had been lying vacant for over two months after Bimal Julka completed his term on August 26. Sinha, aged 62, will have a tenure of about three years.
With the induction of Mahurkar, Samariya and Punhani, the number of Information Commissioners will be seven as against a sanctioned strength of 10. Vanaja N Sarna, Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Suresh Chandra and Amita Pandove are the other Information Commissioners.
Mahurkar has worked as Senior Deputy Editor with a leading media house. He has graduated from Gujarat’s Maharaja Sayajirao University in Indian history, culture and archaeology.
Samariya, a 1985-batch IAS officer of Telangana cadre, retired as Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment in September.
Punhani, an Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS) officer of 1984 batch, served as the Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General (HR & Training) in the government of India.