On 15 December 2025, former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Raj Kumar Goyal was sworn in as the 13th Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Information Commission (CIC) for three years, with President Droupadi Murmu administering the oath at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, Delhi.
- He succeeded Heeralal Samariya, who demitted office in September 2025.
- During the ceremony, 8 Information Commissioners(ICs) were sworn in, restoring the CIC to its full strength of one Chief Information Commissioner and ten ICs for the first time since 2016.
Exam Hints:
- What? Appointed as 13th Chief Information Commissioner of CIC
- Who? Raj Kumar Goyal
- Oath Administered by: President Droupadi Murmu
- Tenure: Three years
- Succeeded: Heeralal Samariya (retired September 2025)
- New Information Commissioners: Surendra Singh Meena, Ashutosh Chaturvedi, Swagat Das, Sudha Rani Relangi, P.R. Ramesh, Khushwant Singh Sethi, Jaya Varma Sinha, Sanjeev Kumar Jindal.
- Selection Committee: PM Narendra Modi (Chairperson), Union Minister Amit Shah, MHA, Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
Appointment Process:
Committee: The appointments were recommended by a three-member committee as mandated by the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
Composition: The committee comprised Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi (Chairperson), Union Minister Amit Shah, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.
Eligibility: Candidates must be eminent professionals, free from political or profit-linked roles, and are ineligible for reappointment.
About Raj Kumar Goyal:
Service Background: Raj Kumar Goyal is a 1990-batch IAS officer, initially of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) cadre and later part of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre.
Other Posts: He has held positions as Secretary (Border Management) in the MHA, roles in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and various posts in the erstwhile J&K administration.
Previous Position: He retired in August 2025 as Secretary of the Department of Justice(DoJ), Ministry of Law and Justice (MoL&J).
New Information Commissioners (ICs):
Composition: The eight newly appointed ICs represent diverse professional backgrounds, including civil services, journalism, and the legal sector, and join the two incumbent ICs, Anandi Ramalingam and Vinod Kumar Tiwari.
Surendra Singh Meena: A 1993-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre, served as Additional/Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE).
Ashutosh Chaturvedi: A senior journalist, former Editor-in-Chief of Prabhat Khabar.
Swagat Das: A 1987-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre, he served as Secretary (Security) in the Cabinet Secretariat.
Sudha Rani Relangi: An Indian Legal Service (ILS) officer, former Joint Secretary in the MoL&J.
P.R. Ramesh: A senior journalist, former Managing Editor of Open magazine and former National Political Editor at The Economic Times.
Khushwant Singh Sethi: A 1990-batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of the Tripura cadre, served as Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Principal Secretary (Forests).
Jaya Varma Sinha: A 1988-batch Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) officer, former Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Railway Board.
Sanjeev Kumar Jindal: A 1989-batch Central Secretariat Service (CSS) officer, served as Additional Secretary in the MHA.
About Central Information Commission (CIC):
Statutory: CIC is a statutory body under the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
Function: It functions as the apex authority for adjudicating appeals and complaints related to access to information from central public authorities.
Jurisdiction: Its jurisdiction extends over all Central Public Authorities, including Union Ministries, Departments, and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
Headquarters – New Delhi, Delhi
Established – 2005
