GC Murmu takes oath as new Comptroller and Auditor General of India

Former J&K Lt Governor Girish Chandra Murmu took oath as the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on August 8, 2020. He was administered the oath of the office by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu were also present during the swearing-in ceremony. GC Murmu had resigned as J&K Lt Governor on August 5, 2020.

Delhi: President Kovind administers the oath of office to GC Murmu as Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Murmu stepped down as the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir earlier this week. pic.twitter.com/SeQiqnPclk

— ANI (@ANI) August 8, 2020

A notification released earlier by the Department of Economic Affairs read that the President by virtue of the power vested in him by clause (1) of Article 148 of the Indian Constitution appointed Girish Chandra Murmu to the post of Comptroller and Auditor General of India with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office. 

Key Highlights 

• GC Murmu will be replacing Rajiv Mehrishi, who is a 1978 batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

• The 60-year-old is a 1985 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre.

• Murmu was sworn in as the first Lt governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on October 31, 2019.

• Prior to this, Murmu was serving as the Expenditure Secretary under the Union Ministry of Finance. 

• Murmu had also previously served as the Principal Secretary to Narendra Modi when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

• GC Murmu is known to be a trusted aide of PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah from the time when Modi helmed the state of Gujarat.  

Who is the new J&K Lt Governor?

Former Union minister Manoj Sinha has been appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, succeeding GC Murmu.

Background 

GC Murmu's resignation from the post of J&K Lt Governor came exactly a year after the centre revoked Article 370 and reorganised Jammu and Kashmir, bifurcating it into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.