Bimal Julka swears in as the new information commissioner

NEWDELHI: Information Commiss i o n e r B i mal J u l k a wa s appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on Friday, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique.

President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to Julka as the CIC in the Central Information Commission at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, it said.

Later, Julka administered the oath of office to Amita Pandove as information commissioner, a statement issued by the personnel ministry said without giving any further details.

With her induction, the total number of information commissioners in the Central Information Commission, including the chief information commissioner, has gone up to seven.

The transparency watchdog had been functioning without a chief after Sudhir Bhargava retired on January 11. It was working with a reduced strength of six information commissioners, against the sanctioned strength of 11 (including the CIC).

There is a vacancy of four more information commissioners at the commission after Julka’s appointment as the CIC.

A selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last month recommended the name of Julka, a former information and broadcasting secretary, to the post.

According to rules, the CIC is appointed by the president on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the prime minister as its head, the leader of opposition (LOP) in the Lok Sabha and a Union cabinet minister to be nominated by the PM.