Former AG Mukul Rohatgi appointed as Eminent Jurist to Lokpal Selection Panel

The Central Government informed the Supreme Court today that former Attorney General of India, Mukul Rohatgi has been appointed as the eminent jurist on the Selection Committee tasked with appointing the Lopkpal..Last month, incumbent Attorney General KK Venugopal had informed the Supreme Court Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R Banumathi that the process for appointing the Lokpal was underway..To this end, AG Venugopal had intimated that the Selection Committee had met on April 10 to recommend the appointment of an eminent jurist to the Committee. Subsequently, a notification dated May 11 intimated that the President has nominated Rohatgi to the post..Senior Advocate PP Rao had initially been appointed as the eminent jurist in the Committee. However, the post fell vacant after Rao passed away last year..Non-appointment of the Lokpal has been a contentious issue. Before the Supreme Court passed its judgment in 2016, the Central government had maintained throughout that the Lokpal Act cannot be enforced without a Leader of Opposition..The Court in its 2016 judgment, had turned down this submission by the Centre and had made it clear that the absence of Leader of Opposition in the Selection Committee will not make the appointment of Lokpal invalid. This stance was reiterated by the apex Court last year as well..Notably, it was AG Mukul Rohatgi who had made submissions for the Centre in these hearings..The Selection Committee which appoints the Lokpal consists of the Prime Minister, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, the Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by him, and an eminent jurist who is to be recommended by the aforementioned four members..Read Notification nominating Mukul Rohatgi, dated May 11, 2018