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The Centre on Tuesday notified amended Lokpal search committee rules that allow it to expand the recommendations for chairperson and members of the anti-corruption ombudsman outside the list provided by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
The government has also reduced the number of search committee members from eight to seven; these shall be ''eminent people with domain knowledge of anti-corruption, public administration and vigilance, among others', the notification said. The government will soon start the process of appointing the chairperson and members of the Lokpal, sources said.
The earlier rules, put in place by the United Progressive Alliance government, permitted the search committee to only consider names recommended bt the DoPT.
The selection committee comprises the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Justice of India or a judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the CJI, and an eminent jurist who could be nominated by the President or any other committee member.
Under the new rules, the BJP-led National Democractic Alliance government has removed the restriction. "The search committee may, for the purpose of short-listing of persons, adopt such short-listing norms as it may consider appropriate," say the revised DoPT rules.
"The words 'from amongst the list of persons provided by the central government in the Department of Personnel and Training' shall be omitted," the new notification said.
The government has also done away with a 30-day time limit from the date of receiving the DoPT list for recommending the names, instead leaving the time limit to the search committee's discretion.
The new rules mandate the committee to at least three times the number of vacancies to be filled, instead of the earlier rule asking for at least three times the number of vacancies advertised.
The search committee is also mandated to recommend at least five names for the position of the chairperson of the Lokpal.
The rules were notified following a recommendation by a committee, headed by Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi, formed to look into any legal complications in bringing in changes in the earlier search panel mandate.
The UPA government could not proceed with the appointment of chairperson and members of Lokpal due to objections to the selection procedure raised by the BJP, which was then in the Opposition.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act provides for establishment of a Lokpal for the Union and Lokayuktas for the states to inquire into corruption charges against public functionaries.
