Government to pick Lokpal without LoP?
- 5 years ago
The Lokpal selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi may go ahead with the process of appointing chairperson and members of Lokpal without having the leader of opposition (LoP) as one of its members.
With none of the non-NDA parties managing the minimum 55 MPs needed to stake claim to the LoP's post, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is yet to decide on the issue of leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha. So far, the government has indicated that it does not think Congress's claims to the post with its strength of 44 MPs are justified.
The government's move to proceed without an LOP is supported by provisions in the Act. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, allows the selection panel to go about its business even if it has a vacancy. "No appointment of a chairperson or a member shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy in the selection committee," it says.
The department of personnel and training is also in the midst of amending the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act rules to allow flexibility to the Lokpal search committee to include candidates other than those recommended by department of personnel and training (DoPT).
These candidates will be part of the panel of names to be put up to the Lokpal selection panel. The new rules will also allow any serving or former government employee, irrespective of the rank held, and having 25 years' experience in anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance or law, to be short-listed by the search committee.
Once the rules are amended, a meeting of the selection committee - which as per the Act, includes the prime minister, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge nominated by him and an eminent jurist to be nominated by the President or any other member - will be held to finalise the composition of the Lokpal search committee.
In fact, given that a similar enabling provision that deals with a vacancy is also there in the CVC Act, the absence of a LoP may not be stumbling block in the appointment of Chief Vigilance Commissioner and vigilance commissioners either.
CVC Pradeep Kumar and Vigilance Commissioner J M Garg are due to retire in September this year.
As per the CVC Act, CVC and VCs are to be appointed by the President on the basis of recommendation by a three-member committee chaired by the Prime Minister and including the home minister and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
Though the UPA government had, in its last stages, moved to set up the search committee and the DoPT even put out an advertisement inviting applications for the post of chairperson and members of the Lokpal, the process had to be put on hold in view or a court challenge.
Besides the opposition of the BJP, two persons named by UPA for the search committee - chairperson Justice (retd) K T Thomas and member Fali S Nariman - had opted out, criticising the two-layered Lokpal appointment process.
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With none of the non-NDA parties managing the minimum 55 MPs needed to stake claim to the LoP's post, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is yet to decide on the issue of leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha. So far, the government has indicated that it does not think Congress's claims to the post with its strength of 44 MPs are justified.
The government's move to proceed without an LOP is supported by provisions in the Act. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, allows the selection panel to go about its business even if it has a vacancy. "No appointment of a chairperson or a member shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy in the selection committee," it says.
The department of personnel and training is also in the midst of amending the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act rules to allow flexibility to the Lokpal search committee to include candidates other than those recommended by department of personnel and training (DoPT).
These candidates will be part of the panel of names to be put up to the Lokpal selection panel. The new rules will also allow any serving or former government employee, irrespective of the rank held, and having 25 years' experience in anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance or law, to be short-listed by the search committee.
Once the rules are amended, a meeting of the selection committee - which as per the Act, includes the prime minister, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge nominated by him and an eminent jurist to be nominated by the President or any other member - will be held to finalise the composition of the Lokpal search committee.
In fact, given that a similar enabling provision that deals with a vacancy is also there in the CVC Act, the absence of a LoP may not be stumbling block in the appointment of Chief Vigilance Commissioner and vigilance commissioners either.
CVC Pradeep Kumar and Vigilance Commissioner J M Garg are due to retire in September this year.
As per the CVC Act, CVC and VCs are to be appointed by the President on the basis of recommendation by a three-member committee chaired by the Prime Minister and including the home minister and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
Though the UPA government had, in its last stages, moved to set up the search committee and the DoPT even put out an advertisement inviting applications for the post of chairperson and members of the Lokpal, the process had to be put on hold in view or a court challenge.
Besides the opposition of the BJP, two persons named by UPA for the search committee - chairperson Justice (retd) K T Thomas and member Fali S Nariman - had opted out, criticising the two-layered Lokpal appointment process.
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