The former Supreme Court judge, K.T. Thomas, will head the eight-member search committee to select the names for various posts of Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman.
Justice Thomas was unanimously chosen on February 20 by the selection committee, comprising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar; Supreme Court Judge H.L. Dattu, who is the nominee of the Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam; Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj; and Jurist P.P. Rao.
Justice Thomas retired in 2002.
The other members chosen for the search committee are eminent jurist and senior advocate Fali S Nariman; the former Chief Election Commissioner, S. Y. Quraishi; the principal of Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi, Meenakshi Gopinath; educationist Mrinal Miri; the former Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, Kaki Madhava Rao; and senior journalist and Rajya Sabha Member H.K. Dua.
Highly placed sources told The Hindu that the names were chosen unanimously.
This committee will scrutinise the more than 300 applications received for the post of chairperson and eight members (four judicial and four non-judicial) and forward the names to the selection committee.
The chairperson can be a serving or former Chief Justice of India, a sitting or former judge of the Supreme Court or a person of impeccable integrity and outstanding ability.
