Retired IAS officer Sanjay Kothari took oath as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

It said that 63-year-old Kothari took the oath of his office before the president. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others.

All the attendees at the event were seen following COVID-19 protocols. While PM Modi was seen with a “gamcha” or cotton scarf, other guests were seen wearing face masks at the ceremony.Social distancing was also ensured there as chairs were kept apart.

Kothari has been the Secretary to the President and was earlier selected as the new Chief Vigilance Commissioner by a high-powered committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was selected with majority votes.

Kothari, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, retired in June 2016 as secretary, department of personnel and training.He was in November 2016 appointed as the chief of the government’s head-hunter — the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB).

Kothari was in July 2017 named as the secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind.Meanwhile, the central government had on Monday (20 April) appointed Kapil Dev Tripathi as the secretary to the president.

The post of the chief of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the country’s anti-corruption watchdog, was lying vacant since June last year after KV Chowdary completed his tenure.

Watch LIVE as President Kovind administers Oath of Office to CVC-designate Shri Sanjay Kothari at Rashtrapati Bhavan https://t.co/Cr0g9HGmDh

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) April 25, 2020

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