Search panel gets teeth; lokpal back on track
By notifying amendments to the process of selection of the country's lokpal and other members that will form part of the anti-corruption watchdog, the Narendra Modi Government has taken a major step forward. The course correction has come in the backdrop of the Congress-led UPA regime's decision that the search panel would be bound to select from the list of names that the Department of Personnel and Training forwarded. This had led to protests, with former Supreme Court judge KT Thomas (who had been appointed as head of the search committee) and eminent jurist Fali Nariman pulling out of the search panel earlier this year, saying that they would not act as rubber stamps. The new rules mean that the search committee will now have the freedom to suggest names of its choice for consideration, outside of the list that the Government proposes. This is welcome since the possibility enhances of people with the best credentials getting to eventually participate in the until-now unprecedented process. The UPA regime had wanted to push through its nominees by hobbling the selection process, and as a result compromising the very independence of the lokpal. The protests had virtually derailed the establishment of the lokpal, and it was left to the Modi Government to get it back on track. Now that the rules have been amended, it is to be hoped that the actual process gets off the ground soon. Of course, there are still critical voices like Mr Thomas who argue that while the search panel has now been given more freedom, its choice can still be eventually vetoed by the selection committee. We need to move one step at a time, and there is no need to be doubtful about the Government's intent given that it has within the first 100 days of its tenure, brought about a sweeping change in the powers of the search panel.
There are a few other glitches still, with one of them being the composition of the selection panel which has to have, among others, the leader of Opposition. Since the lok Sabha Speaker has turned down the Congress's plea to be given this status, it remains to be seen how the requirement of an Opposition leader to be represented in the committee is met. There are ways to tackle the issue, with one possibility being that a nominee of the Congress would be part of the selection panel without necessarily having the status of the leader of Opposition. Some tweaking of rules will be called for to achieve this. There is no reason, though, why this tangle should come in the way of a swift creation of the institution of lokpal. It is now for the Government and the opposition parties to work together to get the lokpal off the ground at the earliest. After all, everyone has expressed the desire to have an anti-corruption institution which is insulated as much as possible from political influence.