As per the act, the Lokpal is supposed to have not more than eight members, 50 percent of which shall be members of the Judiciary.
President of India Ram Nath Kovind, on March 19, appointed retired Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose as the head of the country's first Lokpal, the national anti-graft ombudsman.
President Kovind also appointed Justice Dilip B Bhosale, Justice P K Mohanty, Justice Abhilasha Kumari and Justice AK Tripathi as judicial members. Dinesh Kumar Jain, Archana Ramasundaram, Mahender Singh, and Dr. IP Gautam were also appointed as members of the Lokpal.
The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act was enacted in 2013 and received Presidential assent on January 1, 2014. It envisaged the setting up of an ombudsman – Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in the states – to inquire into allegations of corruption against government functionaries.
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As per the Act, the Lokpal is supposed to have not more than eight members, 50 percent of which shall be members of the Judiciary.
The decision to appoint Justice PC Ghose to head the Lokpal was taken by a high-level committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
Justice Ghose was appointed as the judge of the Supreme Court in March 2013 and retired from the top court in May 2017. He has been a sitting member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) since then.
