President of India Ram Nath Kovind on March 19, 2019, appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose as the country’s first Lokpal Chairperson.
Besides Justice Ghose, the President has appointed eight other members to the Lokpal. Judicial members are Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court Ajay Kumar Tripathi, former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court Justice Dilip B. Bhosale; former Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court JusticePradip Kumar Mohanty; and former Manipur High Court Chief JusticeAbhilasha Kumari.
The non-judicial members include former Sashastra Seema Bal Chief Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, Mahender Singh, and Indrajeet Prasad Gautam.
Currently, a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Justice Ghose retired from the Supreme Court on May 27, 2017. He assumed charge as Supreme Court judge on March 8, 2013. Justice Ghose’s appointment has come nearly five years after the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, was notified on January 16, 2014. The law provides for a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in States to probe cases of corruption against top public servants including the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers.
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