Scrap the Politicised and Flawed Procedure for Appointment of Lokpal

The resignation of Justice (retired) KT Thomas as the head of the Lokpal search panel barely a few days after eminent jurist Fali S Nariman had also decided to opt out of the same panel, completely exposes the UPA government’s unjustified attempts to complete the appointment process in a hurry before it completes its tenure.

The entire issue proves beyond doubt that the Congress-led UPA government is trying to appoint individuals convenient to it in a desperate bid to render the Lokpal as a weak and ineffective institution. It also shows that other main parties, including the BJP, did nothing to ensure adequate checks and balances to prevent the government from weakening the fight against corruption.

The Aam Aadmi Party has consistently maintained that the selection process mentioned in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, passed by the parliament and signed into a law by the President, is flawed and has left a lot of room for political interference.

Issues raised by Justice Thomas and Mr Nariman bring the Lokpal rules notified by the government after it became a law into sharp glare, and highlight the unjust intentions of the government.

Firstly, the government was required to lay these rules in Parliament for 30 days before it could issue an advertisement inviting applications for the post of Lokpal chairperson and members. This procedure, however, was surprisingly bypassed and during the recently concluded Parliament session, there was virtually no time gap between tabling these rules in Parliament and issuing the advertisement.

Next, rule 10 (1) notified by the government under Lokpal rules 2014, make it clear that the search panel can only consider names for the appointment of the Lokpal chairperson and members from among the list provided by the government.

Rule 10 (4) further limits the choice of non-judicial members in the Lokpal to those who have held secretary level posts in the central or state governments. These changes quietly made in the rules, which were not mentioned in the bill passed by Parliament, expose the real intention of the government, which wants to appoint pliable individuals to weaken the Lokpal institution.

The AAP, which sacrificed its Delhi government on the Janlokpal issue, had warned when the bill was being passed in Parliament that the selection process for the appointment of Lokpal chairperson and members would not be impartial and was prone to political interference.

This was proved in the first meeting of the Lokpal selection panel, when the UPA government had to resort to voting to reject the objection raised by leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj on the appointment of a jurist to the panel.

The selection process for Lokpal is loaded in favour of the political class and particularly the ruling party. The Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker and the leader of the opposition are all political entities. The Chief Justice of India or his nominee is the only non-political member of the selection panel, since the eminent jurist is also to be appointed by a majority in this panel.

In comparison, the Janlokpal bill drafted by the civil society representatives and the AAP government’s Delhi Janlokpal bill, both, had drastically reduced the presence of politicians in the Lokpal selection panel.

Delhi’s Janlokpal bill, which the Congress and the BJP, together opposed in the assembly, provided for only two politicians – chief minister and leader of the opposition – in the seven member selection panel.

With eminent jurists having exposed the government’s designs, the AAP demands that the process for appointment of Lokpal should be immediately put on hold and after the Lok Sabha elections, necessary amendments be made in this law to make it into an effective deterrent against corruption.