- The Government has informed Supreme court that Lokpal Search Committee headed by former Supreme Court judge has forwarded three panels of names for chairperson, judicial members and non-judicial members to the selection committee for appointment of lokpal.
- Supreme Court is hearing a PIL filed for seeking a direction to the government to appoint the Lokpal expeditiously.
- Enacted in 2013, the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act received Presidential assent and came into force in 2014.However, the first Lokpal is yet to be appointed by the government.
- The Act allows setting up of an anti-corruption ombudsman called Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayukta at the State-level.The Lokpal will cover all categories of public servants, including the Prime Minister.But the armed forces do not come under the ambit of Lokpal.
- It consists of a chairperson and up to eight members.The chairperson and at least half of the members have to be current or former judges of the Supreme Court or chief justices of high courts.
- The search panel setup for lokpal recommends at least five names for chairperson and at least three times the number of vacancies in the case of members.This recommendation has to be placed before the high-power selection committee led by the Prime Minister.
- The selection committee comprises of(a)Prime minister (b)Lok Sabha Speaker (c)the Leader of the Opposition (d)the Chief Justice of India and an (e)eminent jurist as members.
