President Pranab Mukherjee has given his nod for the nomination of P.P. Rao, senior advocate, as jurist member of the selection committee of the Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman, despite objections from Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.
Besides Mr. Rao, the selection panel has Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Supreme Court judge H.L. Dattu, a nominee of Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam and Ms. Swaraj.
At the first meeting held last week, the panel inducted Mr. Rao by a 3:1 majority despite opposition from Ms. Swaraj.
She later met the President and requested him not to approve Mr. Rao’s selection as it was not unanimous.
Subsequently, a group of advocates made a similar request to the President. But, despite the opposition, the President cleared Mr. Rao’s name. The selection committee will meet next week for appointing a search committee of at least seven persons. This committee will scrutinise the applications received for the post of chairperson and eight members — four judicial and four non-judicial — and forward the names to the selection panel.
