(MENAFN-Khaleej Times) In a big blow to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, former Supreme Court judge Justice K T Thomas on Monday pulled out of the Lokpal Search Committee by questioning the selection process for the national anti-corruption ombudsman
Earlier, senior Supreme Court advocate Fali Nariman had also refused to join the panel terming the selection process ludicrous and farcical. Justice Thomas has conveyed his inability to head the eight-member committee in a letter to the Prime Minister’s office.
He said he had taken the decision after studying the rules for the selection. He felt there was no need for a search committee since the selection panel itself was able to find out the persons qualified to be appointed as members of the Lokpal.
“What we are expected to do is to forward a list to the government. It is not necessary that the names forwarded by us are finally accepted by the selection panel,” the former apex court judge said.
He also questioned the selection on the basis of applications. Members of a watchdog that will supervise the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Central Vigilance Commission cannot be selected like bureaucrats by inviting applications, he said.
Several sitting and former Supreme Court judges had also come out openly against the selection process saying that the law did not permit sitting judges to apply for any position. They said the best way was to prepare a panel of judges and shortlist the suitable to be picked up by the selection committee. Justice Thomas, who retired from the apex court in 2002, was unanimously chosen by the selection committee, comprising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar; Supreme Court Judge H.L. Dattu; Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj; and Jurist P.P. Rao.
Besides Justice Thomas and Nariman, other members chosen for the search committee are former Chief Election Commissioner, S. Y. Quraishi; the principal of Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi, Meenakshi Gopinath; educationist Mrinal Miri; the former Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, Kaki Madhava Rao; and senior journalist and Rajya Sabha Member H.K. Dua.
They were required to scrutinize the applications received for the post of chairperson and seven members (four judicial and four non-judicial) of the Lokpal and forward the names to the selection panel. A total of 300 applications were received for the positions in response to the advertisement given by the government.
The exit of Nariman and Justice Thomas from the panel will delay the constitution of the Lok Pal, which assumed political significance following the movement spearheaded by social activists Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal in 2012.
The huge success of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched by Kejriwal in the Delhi Assembly elections is attributed to the movement. Kejriwal’s decision to quit power by accusing the BJP and the Congress of blocking the Delhi version of the Lok Pal has brought the anti-graft law to the centre stage of the coming Lok Sabha elections.
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