Sudhir Bhargava takes oath as Chief Information Commissioner

Sudhir Bhargava took oath as the chief information commissioner in the Central Information Commission (CIC) Tuesday, a statement issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

Bhargava was administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan, it said.

Bhargava was working as the Information Commissioner in the CIC.

Former IFS officer Yashwardhan Kumar Sinha, the then chairperson of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Vanaja N Sarna, former IAS officer Neeraj Kumar Gupta and the then law secretary Suresh Chandra have recently been chosen as information commissioners in the CIC, officials said.

Sinha is a 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service (retired) officer who was the Indian high commissioner in the United Kingdom.

An alumnus of St Michael's High School in Patna and St Stephen's College in Delhi, Sinha had served a number of important postings in the Ministry of External Affairs, including the crucial Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division, which he headed for four years as the additional secretary.

The only woman in the CIC will be Sarna, a 1980-batch retired Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central excise) officer.

Neeraj Kumar Gupta, a 1982-batch IAS officer, retired as a secretary from the department of investment and public asset management.