Context

• Recently, former Supreme Court Justice AM Khanwilkar has been appointed as the new Lokpal of the country.

Background

• Earlier, Justice Shri Pinaki Chandra Ghosh was appointed the first Chairman of the Lokpal of India.
• He was administered the oath of office by the President of India on March 23, 2019, at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• Later, four judicial members and four other members were administered the oath of office by the Speaker on March 27, 2019.
• It is noteworthy that Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh had completed his tenure on May 27, 2022. After that this organisation was working without its regular head.
• Justice Pradeep Kumar Mohanty, judicial member of the Lokpal, is currently the acting chairperson.

Key Points

• The appointment of other key members of the Lokpal was also announced in the notification issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• Justice Khanwilkar is joined by Justice Lingappa Narayana Swamy, Justice Sanjay Yadav and Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi as judicial members.
• The non-judicial members include Sushil Chandra, Pankaj Kumar and Ajay Tirkey.

Ombudsman

• Through the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, provision was made for the institution of Lokpal for the Union (Centre) and Lokayukta for the states.
• These institutions are statutory bodies without any constitutional status.
• They act as Ombudsman and investigate allegations of corruption against certain categories of government officials.

Process of appointment and number of members of Lokpal

• The Chairperson and members of the Lokpal are appointed by the President following the recommendations of a selection committee headed by the Prime Minister.
• The Chairman of Lokpal can be a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or any other former judge.
• Lokpal can have a total of eight members, out of these 8 members, 4 are judicial members and 4 are such persons whose integrity has not been questioned.
• Apart from this, these four members have at least 25 years of expertise in anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance (insurance and banking), law and management.

Tenure

• The tenure of the Lokpal Chairperson and members is five years or till the age of 70 years.

Justice AM Khanwilkar

• Justice Khanwilkar's tenure on the Supreme Court bench was from May 2016 to July 2022.
• He played an important role in the cases like entry of women in Sabarimala, decriminalisation of homosexuality and validity of Aadhaar, Common Cause vs Union of India (2018), constitutional validity of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), etc.
• Before being elevated to the Supreme Court, Justice Khanwilkar served as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh High Courts and a judge of the Bombay High Court.

Important Facts For Exam