After SC rap, govt gets moving on Lokpal pick

NEW DELHI: The Centre is looking to move ahead on the appointment of a Lokpal with the Supreme Court having recently questioned the Centre over the delay in setting up the anti-corruption watchdog.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh is due to hold deliberations over the pending appointment at a ministerial committee meeting on Wednesday.

A key issue the government has to decide on is to change the terms of the panel that will appoint the Lokpal and other members to accommodate the leader of the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha since there is no leader of opposition.

The SC had recently pul led up the Centre and said the proposed institution could become a dead letter as the appointment of a Lokpal had been pending since 2014.

With the court hinting it could not allow the watchdog to become redundant, the government seems to have been spurred into a more active mode as it seems keen to preempt a direction from the SC.

The move also ties in with PM Narendra Modi's promise to act to clean up political funding, after having supported state funding and the Election Commission's proposal to reduce the limit for anonymous donations to Rs 2,000.

The lack of progress on Lokpal could be a vulnerable area for the Modi government with the PM having pitched demonetisation as aimed at rooting out black money and corruption. The need to address black money generated and spent during polls and making politicians more accountable is seen as the obvious next step as the PM has declared that more measures will follow. It is seen to be linked to the proposed law against `benami' assets with illegal wealth often parked in “investments“ like real estate.

There have been misgivings in the political class, BJP included, about the creation of a powerful anti-graft ombudsman with powers to recommend investigations against politicians and officials.

But the pressure of the SC and the political logic of the PM's campaign may leave the Centre with few options but to act fast to set up a Lokpal that is up and functio ning well ahead of the 2019 polls.