Government may go ahead with Lokpal selection without LoP

Simultaneously, the government is likely to proceed with the appointment of next Central Vigilance Commissioner and Vigilance Commissioner in Central Vigilance Commission without the LoP, the sources said.

CVC Pradeep Kumar and Vigilance Commissioner J M Garg are due to retire in September this year.

Central Vigilance Commissioner and Vigilance Commissioner are to be appointed by the President on the basis of recommendation from  a three-member committee consisting Prime Minister as chairperson and Minister of Home Affairs and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha as members, as per the CVC Act, 2003.

“No appointment of a Central Vigilance Commissioner or a Vigilance Commissioner shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy in the committee,” the Act says.

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, which had got assent from President Pranab Mukherjee on January 1 this year, provides for the establishment of Lokpal for the Union and Lokayuktas for the states to inquire into corruption charges against public functionaries.

The UPA government had in February this year hurriedly formed an eight-member search committee comprising Justice (retd) K T Thomas (as chairperson) and seven other members.

The members included Kaki Madhava Rao (former IAS officer), F S Nariman (legal luminary), Prof Meenakshi Gopinath (educationist), M L Kumawat (former Director General of Border Security Force), H K Dua (senior journalist and Rajya Sabha member), S Y Quraishi (former Chief Election Commissioner) and Prof Mrinal Miri (Rajya Sabha member).  But both Thomas and Nariman had refused to be part of the search panel.