A former Supreme Court judge, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, was on Tuesday appointed as the country’s first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman, an official communiqué said.
Former Sashastra Seema Bal chief Archana Ramasundaram, former Maharashtra chief secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain and two others, Mahender Singh and Indrajeet Prasad Gautam, have been appointed as the ombudsman’s non-judicial members.
Justices Dilip B. Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and Ajay Kumar Tripathi are the judicial members, the communiqué from Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
“The above appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices,” it said.
Justice Ghose, 66, retired as a Supreme Court judge in May 2017 and has been a member of the National Human Rights Commission since June 29 that year.
A selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recommended the appointments, which were approved by President Ram Nath Kovind.
The appointments are likely to trigger a political controversy as Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha, had boycotted the committee meetings.
Kharge had refused to attend as he had been called as a special invitee, and not as a full member, on the ground that the Congress lacks the minimum strength required in the Lok Sabha for him to be considered the leader of the Opposition.
The selection committee has as its members the Lok Sabha Speaker, leader of the Opposition in the Lower House, the Chief Justice of India or an apex court judge nominated by him, and an eminent jurist nominated by the President or any other member. Kovind had nominated former attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi as the “eminent jurist” against the vacancy arising out of the death of senior advocate P.P. Rao.
