Justice PC Ghose appointed India's first Lokpal

Former Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose will be India's first 'Lokpal' or the anti-corruption ombudsman.

President Ram Nath Kovind cleared the appointment of Justice Ghose as Chairperson and eight others as members of the Lokpal following a recommendation from the selection panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The judicial members are Justices Dilip B Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and Ajay Kumar Tripathi, while the and non-judicial members include Dinesh Kumar Jain, Archana Ramasundaram, Mahender Singh and Dr Indrajeet Prasad Gautam.

The names were finalised during a meeting of the selection panel last Friday, which was boycotted by Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. He had rejected the government's offer to attend a meeting of the Lokpal selection panel as a special invitee as there was no provision for a special invitee attending the meet.

The appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said.

Justice Ghose (66), who retired as Supreme Court judge in May 2017, is currently a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

According to the law, a person who is or has been the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge is eligible for appointment as Lokpal.

Justice Bhosale, who is the son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Babasaheb Bhosale, was appointed a sitting judge in 2012 in Karnataka High Court. He retired in October last year from Allahabad High Court where he was the Chief Justice. Hailing from Satara in Maharashtra, he was first appointed an Additional Judge at the Bombay High Court in January 2001 and promoted to be a Permanent Judge two years later.

Justice Mohanty, who retired as Jharkhand High Court's Chief Justice, was first appointed as an Additional Judge of Orissa High Court and became the Permanent Judge in 2004. He also took charge of Acting Chief Justice of Orissa High Court several times.

Daughter of former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh with his first wife, Justice Abhilasha Kumari served in Gujarat High Court between 2006 and 2018. She was the first woman Chief Justice of Manipur High Court.

Sitting Chhattisgarh Chief Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi is another member in the Lokpal from the judicial side.

Among the non-judicial members are former Maharashtra Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former Sashastra Seema Bal chief Archana Ramasundaram, Mahender Singh and Dr Indrajeet Prasad Gautam. Ramasundaram was also at one time speculated to be in the race for CBI Director.