Top court ex-judge to head panel to recommend names for Lokpal

The government on Thursday constituted an eightmember search committee to recommend names for chairperson and members of the anti-corruption ombudsman, Lokpal.

A ministry of personnel order said the search committee would be headed by former Supreme Court judge, Ranjana Prakash Desai.

The remaining seven members include retired IAS officer Lalit K Panwar, former Allahabad high court judge Sakha Ram Singh Yadav, former chief of State Bank of India (SBI) Arundhati Bhattacharya, Prasar Bharati chairperson A Surya Prakash, Indian Space Research Organisation head AS Kiran Kumar, former Gujarat police chief SS Khandwawala and former solicitor general Ranjit Kumar.

“The process of Lokpal selection is underway as per the guidelines laid down in the Lokpal Act,” said minister of state for personnel Dr Jitendra Singh.

As per the guidelines, the search committee would recommend the names to a selection committee headed by the Prime Minister and having as its members the Lok Sabha speaker, leader of the opposition in the lower house, the chief justice of India or a judge of the apex court nominated by him, and an eminent jurist who could be nominated by the president or any other member.

In April this year, President Ram Nath Kovind had nominated former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi as the ‘eminent jurist’ on the panel.

His appointment came on the recommendation of the selection panel against the vacancy created following the death of senior advocate PP Rao.

The proposed Lokpal will have a chairman and eight members. It can enquire into offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the Prime Minister (with specified safeguards), sitting and former Union ministers, sitting and former members of parliament, government employees, employees of a company, society or a trust set up by an act of Parliament or financed or controlled by the central government, and employees of association of persons that have received funding from the government or have received public donation or foreign funding upto ₹10 lakh a year.

Officials said the government chose members of the search committee as per the guidelines laid down in the Lokpal Act, which says the panel should have at least 50% of the members from among SC, ST, OBC, women or minority communities.

The government went ahead with the formation of the search committee despite Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, boycotting meetings of the PM-led Lokpal selection panel.

Kharge argued that he has been made ‘special invitee’ of the panel instead of a full-fledged member.

He refused to attend meetings of the selection committee on six occasions -- March 1, April 10, July 19, August 21, September 4 and September 19 – this year.

The opposition leader had asked the government to amend the Lokpal Act for including the leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha in the selection committee.

The Lokpal bill got the presidential nod on 2014.

› The process of Lokpal selection is underway as per the guidelines laid down in the Lokpal Act DR JITENDRA SINGH, minister of state for personnel