Former SC judge Justice Khanwilkar appointed as Chairperson of Lokpal

New Delhi: Former Supreme Court judge, Justice A M Khanwilkar, was on Tuesday appointed as the Chairperson of Lokpal by President Droupadi Murmu.

According to a communication issued on Tuesday, the three judicial members appointed are Justice Lingappa Narayana Swamy, Justice Sanjay Yadav, Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi.

Those appointed as members are former Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra, and former civil servants Pankaj Kumar and Ajay Tirkey.

Justice Khanwilkar, who retired as a Supreme Court judge on July 29, 2022 after a six-year tenure, was part of several landmark judgments, including Aadhaar, entry of women to Sabarimala temple, criminal provision of adultery, and the decriminalisation of gay sex. He led the bench which upheld provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Justice Khanwilkar also presided over a bench which confirmed the clean chit to Prime Minister and then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots.

Among the judicial members, Justice Awasthi, former Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, had so far been in the role of Chairperson of the Law Commission of India.

Justice Swamy is a former judge of the Karnataka High Court and a former Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

Justice Yadav, meanwhile, is a former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.

The chairperson and members of the Lokpal are appointed by a panel headed by Prime Minister, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge nominated by him and an eminent jurist.