New Delhi — Former diplomat Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha was appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on Saturday, according to a statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan.
President Ram Nath Kovind has administered the oath of office to Sinha as the Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the communique from President office read.
Sinha who joined as the Information Commissioner on January 1, 2019, replaces Bimal Julka who completed his term on August 26.
Sinha, aged 62, will have a tenure of about three years as the CIC are appointed for a tenure of five years or till they attain the age of 65 years.
Besides Sinha, the panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has short-listed journalist Uday Mahurkar, former Labour Secretary Heera Lal Samariya and former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General Saroj Punhani as the Information Commissioners, officials said.
All three will be administered the oath of office by Sinha later in the day, they said.
With the induction of Mahurkar, Samariya and Punhani, the strength of the Information Commissioner will be seven.
At present, there are four Information Commissioners – Vanaja N Sarna, Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Suresh Chandra and Amita Pandove – in the Central Information Commission against the sanctioned strength of 10.
