• India
  • Mar 20

It’s official. Ghose named first Lokpal

Former Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose was on March 19 appointed as India’s first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman, an official communique said.

Former Chief Justices Dilip Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari besides sitting Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Ajay Kumar Tripathi have been appointed as judicial members in the Lokpal.

Former Sashastra Seema Bal chief Archana Ramasundaram, former Maharashtra chief secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and former IAS officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam have been appointed as non-judicial members.

“The above appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices,” the communique said.

The appointments were recommended by a selection committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and approved by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Justice Ghose, 66, retired as Supreme Court judge in May 2017. He has been a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) since June 29, 2017.

The much-awaited appointments, announced ahead of the Lok Sabha polls scheduled to begin from April 11, are likely to trigger a controversy as Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, a member of the Lokpal selection panel, had boycotted the latest meeting.

The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, which envisages appointment of a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants, was passed in 2013.

The Lokpal appointment comes a fortnight after the Supreme Court asked Attorney General K.K. Venugopal to convene a meeting of the Lokpal selection panel.

A search committee headed by former apex court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai had recommended three panels of names to the selection committee for appointment of chairperson, judicial and non-judicial members in the anti-graft body.

Following the court’s proceedings, a meeting of the selection panel was held on March 15.

According to rules, there is provision for a chairperson and a maximum of eight members in the Lokpal panel. Of these, four need to be judicial members.

The Lokpal selection committee is headed by the prime minister and has as its members the Lok Sabha Speaker, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, 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.

Lokpal:

Pinaki Chandra Ghose

Judicial members:

Dilip Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and Ajay Kumar Tripathi

Non-judicial members:

Dinesh Kumar Jain, Archana Ramasundaram, Mahender Singh and Indrajeet Prasad Gautam

Notes