President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday administered the oath of office to Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha as Chief Information Commissioner at the Central Information Commission (CIC).Sinha's appointment as Chief IC was cleared by a High Powered Committee (HPC) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Committee also consisted of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury..Sinha is a retired IFS officer and had been the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom..The post of Chief IC was lying vacant since August 26 this year after the then incumbent Chief Commissioner Bimal Julka retired from the post..In addition, former Labour Secretary Heera Lal Samariya, Journalist Uday Mahurkar and former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General Saroj Punhani appointed as Information Commissioners..Punhani, an Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS) officer of 1984 batch, served as the Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General..Mahurkar is a deputy editor at the India Today group..Samariya, a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Telangana cadre, retired as Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment in September..Leader of Opposition Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury gave dissenting note at the appointment of Mahurkar. Chowdhury told NDTV, "He has been sky-dropped though he did not even apply and was an open supporter of the ruling party and its ideology."
