Ex- IAS Officer Raj Kumar Goyal Takes Charge As Chief Information Commissioner

Retired IAS officer Raj Kumar Goyal has taken charge as the Chief Information Commissioner after being sworn in by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

New Delhi: Raj Kumar Goyal, a retired IAS officer, officially took charge as the Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Information Commission on Monday. He was sworn in during a formal ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office.

Vice President CP Radhakrishnan was also present on the occasion, marking the official appointment of Raj Kumar Goyal to the post.

"President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Shri Raj Kumar Goyal, Chief Information Commissioner, at Rashtrapati Bhavan," the X handle of the President of India said.

Goyal is a retired IAS officer of the 1990 batch and was superannuated as Secretary in the Department of Justice under the Ministry of Law and Justice. He has also served as the Secretary (Border Management) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

He succeeded Heeralal Samariya as the CIC.

Acting on the recommendations of the committee formed under sub-section (3) of Section 12 of the Right to Information Act, 2005, the President appointed Raj Kumar Goyal as the Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Information Commission, with effect from December 15.

The President appoints the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, who is also the Chairperson of the committee; the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha; and a Union Cabinet Minister as nominated by the Prime Minister.

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi held a nearly two-hour closed-door meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday to finalise key appointments to the Central Information Commission. The discussions also included the selection of the Chief Information Commissioner, eight Information Commissioners, and the Vigilance Commissioner in the Central Vigilance Commission. Sources said Rahul Gandhi submitted a dissent note during the meeting on the selection of the officials.

(From the Inputs of ANI)