Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha was appointed as the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on Saturday. President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to Sinha as the Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

According to reports, the post had been lying vacant for over two months after Bimal Julka completed his term on August 26. A CIC and Information Commissioner are appointed for a tenure of five years or till they attain the age of 65 years. Sinha was short-listed for the post by a three-member committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sinha, a former diplomat, 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 newly appointed CIC, aged 62, will have a tenure of about three years. At present, there are four Information Commissioners — Vanaja N Sarna, Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Suresh Chandra and Amita Pandove in the Central Information Commission against the sanctioned strength of 10.