Act fast on appointment of Lokpal, SC tells Centre

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Narendra Modi government for keeping the Lokpal Act in limbo for long and sought explanation on why it was not appointing the anti-graft ombudsman.
A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices R Banumathi and U U Lalit said the Centre could not sit over the appointment process for making the anti-corruption watchdog functional and sought response on what action it had taken so far for appointment of Lokpal.
"You must take some steps. You cannot sit over it. Why have you not appointed Lokpal so far even after passing the law. If you have any problem then tell us," the bench asked the Centre. It said an important law like this cannot be kept in cold storage.
The court was hearing a plea filed by NGO Common Cause seeking its direction to appoint Lokpal. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, contended that the government had not done anything in two years for making the anti-corruption body functional.
"The government must proceed to make the appointment of Lokpal at the earliest so that an independent institution to inquire into allegations of corruption against public functionaries could be set up. Further, the procedure for selecting the chairperson and members of Lokpal by the selection committee must be transparent as envisaged under the Act," Bhushan contended.
He said the selection committee should regulate its own procedure in a transparent manner for selecting the chairperson and members of the Lokpal and raised questions as to why the Centre was not interested in making the appointments. He pleaded the court to pass directions to ensure transparency in the selection process.
"One of the ways to ensure complete transparency in the selection process is that the panel of persons to be prepared by the search committee for consideration by the selection committee must be placed in public domain before final selection of chairperson and members of Lokpal," he said.