NEW DELHI: The government has set up an eight-member committee to recommend the chairperson and members of anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal.
The search panel will be headed by Justice (retd.) Ranjana Prakash Desai, with former State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, Prasar Bharati chairperson A Surya Prakash and Indian Space Research Organisation chairman A S Kiran Kumar as members.
The order to this effect was issued by the Ministry of Personnel on Thursday. Former Allahabad High Court judge Justice Sakha Ram Singh Yadav, former Gujarat Police chief Shabbirhusein S Khandwawala, retired IAS officer Lalit K Panwar and former solicitor general Ranjit Kumar are the other members of the panel.
The government has gone ahead with the formation of the search committee even though Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, boycotting meetings of the Lokpal selection panel, headed by PM Narendra Modi.
The decision to constitute the search committee has come four years after the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act was passed in 2013. The Act envisages the establishment of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants. The search committee is mandated to recommend a panel of names for the appointment of Lokpal members.