Former Supreme Court Justice A. M. Khanwilkar was appointed Lokpal Chairman on Tuesday.
The post of regular Chairperson of Lokpal was vacant after the retirement of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose on May 27, 2022. Justice Pradeep Kumar Mohanty, judicial member of Lokpal, was playing the role of acting chairman.
According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan release, President Draupadi Murmu has appointed Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar as the Chairperson of the Lokpal. Justice Khanwilkar was to retire from the apex court in July 2022.
According to the release, retired judges Lingappa Narayan Swamy, Sanjay Yadav and Rituraj Awasthi were also appointed as judicial members of the Lokpal. Sushil Chandra, Pankaj Kumar and Ajay Tirkey have been appointed as non-judicial members of the Lokpal, the release said.
It was told that these appointments will be effective from the day of assuming charge. The Chairperson and members of Lokpal are appointed by the President on the basis of recommendations of a selection committee headed by the Prime Minister.
Apart from a Chairman, Lokpal can have 4 judicial and non-judicial members.
Rs 33.32 crore allocated to Lokpal
It is noteworthy that in the interim budget 2024-25 presented in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Rs 33.32 crore was allocated to Lokpal, so that it can meet the expenses related to its establishment and construction. Lokpal was initially given Rs 92 crore in the budget for 2023-24.
But later the budgetary provision in this regard was increased to Rs 110.89 crore. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has been allocated Rs 51.31 crore for 2024-25 in the interim budget.
This provision has been made for the secretariat expenses of the Commission. CVC was allocated Rs 44.46 crore for FY 2023-24 which was later increased to Rs 47.73 crore.