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The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi ordered the centre on 2nd July to submit an affidavit from the government specifying the time frame within which requisite steps for the expedition of the process of Lokpal appointment will be undertaken.
The Lokpal Act, which was passed by the Parliament in 2013 and came into force in the subsequent year specifies for the appointment of a Lokpal by the selection committee comprising the PM, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition (LOP), CJI or his nominee and an eminent jurist. The government had argued that the absence of LOP in the Lok Sabha after the General Elections of 2014 had hindered the appointment process leading to delays. The apex court had ordered in April 2017 for the constitution of the anti-corruption body and had observed that the absence of LOP shouldn’t come in the way of the appointment procedures. However, the leader of the largest opposition party was included in the selection panels for the Lokpal and for CBI Chief due to the pressure from the SC. A year has passed since and no action had been taken by the government. Subsequently, a contempt petition was filed on 23rd February by an NGO Common Cause urging the court to pass an order directing the centre to take expeditious action on the matter of appointments. The lawyer on behalf of the petitioner, Prashant Bhushan had argued that the delay in appointments reflected the government’s intention of not appointing the most important anti-corruption watchdog and the that the government was merely dragging its feet. In the same hearing held on 6th March, Attorney General KK Venugopal appearing on behalf of the government had apprised the bench of the selection committee meeting that had taken place on March 1 for the appointment of an “eminent jurist”. He had counter-argued that the appointment of an eminent jurist was a prior step to the appointment of the Lokpal and the committee had been finalizing on this appointment. He assured the bench that the eminent jurist would be appointed at the earliest. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohtagi was subsequently appointed as the eminent jurist on 15th May.
In the hearing of 2nd July, the attorney general KK Venugopal assured the bench that the selection committee meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be held shortly and the Lokpal would be appointed promptly. Thereafter, the SC ordered for the submission of the affidavit and the matter has been fixed for hearing on 17th July.
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