5 new Information Commissioners take oath of office

Chief Information Commissioner Deepak Sandhu today administered oath of office to five new Information Commissioners here, filling all but one vacancies at the transparency panel, where there is a backlog of over 30,000 cases.
Former IPS officer Yashovardhan Azad, writer Madabhushanam Sridhar Acharyulu, former IFS officer Sharat Sabharwal, former Indian Postal Services officer Manjula Parasher and former joint secretary with Law Ministry MA Khan Yusufi took the oath here today.
Before his appointment, Azad, a 1976 IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, was holding the post of Secretary (Security) in the Cabinet Secretariat after a stint with the Intelligence Bureau.

A post-graduate in political science, Sabharwal, a career diplomat, retired as High Commissioner of India in Pakistan.
An Indian Postal Service officer, Parasher retired as Secretary, Postal Department on January 31, 2013.
Yusufi, a former Indian Legal Services officer held the post of Joint Secretary in the Law Ministry after which he became Chairperson in Airport Appellate Authority.

The only person who is not a former government officer is Sridhar (Acharyulu) who is a writer on law and journalism and authored about 26 books on these topics, sources said.
The Commission, where nine of the ten officers now are former bureaucrates, faces challenges of pending cases and strict enforcement of section four of the RTI Act which mandates proactive disclosures.

According to RTI Act, Central Information Commission can have a maximum of 10 information commissioners and a Chief Information Commissioner.
With the new appointments, CIC will get all but one Information Commissioners which might help it in clearing backlog of over 30,000 cases.