A committee under the chairmanship of the Attorney General (AG) has been formed by the Centre to look into the amendments in Lokpal search panel rules, which were notified by the last United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
The government will go ahead with the appointment of chairperson and members of Lokpal only after the amendments are carried out in the rules, official sources said.
The committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Attorney General Mukul Rohatagi to look into changes in the Lokpal search committee rules, they said.
The search panel is mandated to recommend names for appointment of chairperson and members of the Lokpal.
The erstwhile UPA government could not go ahead with the much-touted appointment of chairperson and members of Lokpal due to BJP’s objection to the selection procedure.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was then the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, had raised strong objections to the “highly improper” procedure adopted by the UPA government to make appointments of Lokpal’s head and members.
As per the existing rules, an eight-member search panel is tasked to draw up a panel of persons for consideration by the selection committee led by the Prime Minister for appointment of chairperson and members of the Lokpal.
The search panel has to choose these persons from among the panel provided by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the rules say.
However, the government is likely to empower the search committee to also include people from outside the list to be provided by the DoPT for consideration by the selection committee, sources said.
The validity of Lokpal search committee’s rules has been challenged before the Supreme Court. During the course of hearing, the government had informed the court that it would re-examine the issue and make formal amendments to the rules.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act provides for the establishment of a Lokpal for the Union and Lokayuktas for the States to inquire into corruption charges against public functionaries.
President Pranab Mukherjee had given his assent to Lokpal Act on January 1 this year.
The UPA government had in February this year hurriedly formed an eight-member search committee comprising Justice (retd.) K T Thomas (as Chairperson) and seven other members.
The members included Kaki Madhava Rao (former IAS officer), F S Nariman (legal luminary), Prof. Meenakshi Gopinath (educationist), M.L. Kumawat (former Director General of Border Security Force), H.K. Dua (senior journalist and Rajya Sabha member), S.Y. Quraishi (former Chief Election Commissioner) and Prof. Mrinal Miri (Rajya Sabha member).
But both Thomas and Nariman had refused to be part of the search panel.
The selection committee, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has as its members the Lok Sabha Speaker, Leader of Opposition in the Lower House, the Chief Justice of India or a judge of the apex court nominated by the CJI, and an eminent jurist who could be nominated by the President or any other member.
