Justice Thomas, head of Lokpal search committee opts out

mangaloretoday.com / CNN-IBN

New Delhi, March 03:  In a major embarrassment for the government, the man heading the search for the nine members of the Lokpal or national anti-corruption ombudsman has quit his assignment.

In a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office, Justice KT Thomas complains that the committee he chaired "cannot make any independent search to find out the most deserving persons" but has to restrict its review to a list of candidates submitted by the central government.

 

"I wonder why there should be a Search Committee at all," he adds, pointing out that the Search Committee’s nominations can be vetoed by another Selection Committee headed by the Prime Minister. Justice Thomas retired from the Supreme Court in 2002.

Last week, noted jurist Fali Nariman refused the government’s invite to be a part of the Search Committee. (Read)

The Lokpal is meant to include four former or serving judges. Famous legal experts have objected to the fact that judges have been asked to apply for the posts.

The law that creates the Lokpal was passed by Parliament in December. The need for an ombudsman empowered to investigate corrupt government officials was championed by activists Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal in 2012 in a high-profile movement which caught the imagination of middle class India.

But the Lokpal proposal was stalled in Parliament for several years, allowing Mr Kejriwal and his new Aam Aadmi Party or AAP to accuse major political parties of disinterest in checking graft.

AAP, which vowed to combat systemic corruption, was heavily favoured by voters in the state elections in Delhi in December and he took over as Chief Minister. But he resigned last month when he failed to push through the Delhi iteration of the Lokpal law in the state legislature.

AAP’s electoral success forced other larger parties to ape its anti-graft agenda. The Congress has attributed the clearance of the Lokpal Bill by Parliament to the efforts of its young vice-president, Rahul Gandhi.