New Delhi, Feb 27 (UNI) President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice AM Khanwilkar as the Chairperson of the Lokpal.
Justice Lingappa Swamy (former HP HC Chief Justice & Karnataka HC Judge), Justice Sanjay Yadav(former Allahabad HC CJ) and Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, present Chairperson of the Law Commission of India have been appointed as the judicial members.
As per the official statement from Rashtrapti Bhavan, the former civil servants Sushil Chandra , Pankaj Kumar and Ajay Tirkey are appointed as non-judicial members of Lokpal.
“Above appointments will take effect the dates they assumed charge of their respective offices” said the statement.
The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 provided for the establishment of Lokpal for the Union and Lokayukta for States. These institutions are statutory bodies without any constitutional status.
They perform the function of an “ombudsman” and inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries and for related matters.
The Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 was passed by the Parliament on 17th December 2013.
The Bill received assent for the President on 1st January 2014 and was notified on the same day as The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.
The Act came into force on 16th January, 2014 and has been amended once in 2016 since its notification.
