Information Commissioner Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha will be administered the oath as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on Saturday, officials said on Friday.
Mr. 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 Information Commissioners by Mr. Sinha, the officials said.
The selection of Mr. Sinha, Mr. Mahurkar, Mr. Samariya and Ms. Punhani was done by a three-member committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Besides Mr. Modi, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Home Minister Amit Shah are members of the panel.
Mr. 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.
Mr. Sinha, aged 62, will have a tenure of about three years.
A CIC or Information Commissioner is appointed for a tenure of five years or till he or she attains the age of 65 years.
With the induction of Mr. Mahurkar, Mr. Samariya and Ms. 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.
Mr. Mahurkar has worked as a senior deputy editor with a leading media house. He graduated from Gujarat’s Maharaja Sayajirao University in Indian history, culture and archaeology.
Mr. Samariya, a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Telangana cadre, retired as Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment in September.
Ms. Punhani, an Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS) officer of the 1984 batch, has served as the Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General (HR & Training) in the Government of India.
