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| Govt to Reconstitute Lokpal Search Committee | | | Agencies
NEW DELHI, Jan 29: The UPA-appointed search committee to nominate members for the Lokpal will soon undergo an overhaul as the government plans to include new names in the panel.
"There is no search committee for the Lokpal at the moment. It will be reconstituted," a senior government official said requesting anonymity.
Ahead of the announcement of the general election last year, the UPA government had appointed an eight-member search committee in February in a hurry with Justice (retd) K T Thomas as the Chairperson.
The other members were Kaki Madhava Rao (former IAS officer), F S Nariman (legal luminary), Prof Meenakshi Gopinath (educationist), M L Kumawat (former BSF Chief), H K Dua and Prof Mrinal Miri (Rajya Sabha MPs) and S Y Quraishi (former Chief Election Commissioner).
But later both Thomas and Nariman had refused to be part of the search panel.
Some of the members of the panel said they have not received any communication from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) regarding the reconstitution exercise. "There has been no communication from the government so far," Prof Miri told PTI.
Other members approached by PTI refused to offer any comment, saying that it was the prerogative of the government to take a decision on reconstituting the panel.
The government has also reduced the number of members in the search committee to seven from eight.
As per the new rules, the search panel will consist of at least seven persons of standing and having special knowledge in anti-corruption, public administration and vigilance matters, among others.
As per the earlier rules, an eight-member search panel was tasked to draw up a panel of persons for consideration by the selection committee led by Prime Minister.
President Pranab Mukherjee had given assent to the Lokpal Act on January 1, last year.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act provides for establishment of a Lokpal for the Union and Lokayuktas for the states to inquire into corruption charges against public functionaries.
The Lokpal selection committee has as its members the Lok Sabha Speaker, the 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.
A parliamentary committee is examining the Lokpal and Lokayuktas and Other Related Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014, which was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 8, last year. The bill seeks to include leader of single largest opposition party in Lok Sabha in a panel in the event, when there is no Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lower House, to select the Chairperson and members of the anti-corruption body.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had rejected Congress demands for LoP status to its leader.
Congress with 44 seats in Lok Sabha has emerged as the second largest party after BJP's 281, but fell short by 11 to stake claim for the post of LoP for which it requires a strength of 55. |
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