On Saturday, Justice Pinaki Ghose took the oath as the first Lokpal(The National Anti-Corruption Ombudsman) of India.
Justice Pinaki Ghose takes oath as the first Lokpal of India pic.twitter.com/Mid1uDrcBG
— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2019
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi were present on the occasion.
Delhi: Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose with PM Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi after taking oath as the first Lokpal of India pic.twitter.com/f5BeIaVmYq
— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2019
The Former Supreme Court Justice Pinaki Ghose’s appointment as the first Lokpal(Anti-Corruption Ombudsman) came 5 years after the Lokpal Act received the President’s nod on 1 January, 2014.
A high-level selection committee comprising of PM Narendra Modi, CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi clerked the name of Justice Pinaki Ghose for appointment as the first Lokpal of India.
The meeting was scheduled on Friday the 22nd March.
Justice Ghose was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court in March 2013. He retired in May 2017.
Justice Pinaki Ghose was a member of the National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) before his appointment as the first Lokpal of India.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, which envisaged the setting up of a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas for the states, to inquire into the matters of allegations of corruption against public functionaries.
The Act was enacted in 2013 and received Presidential nod on January 1, 2014.
The appointment was delayed due to several reasons.
Subsequently, the matter landed into the Supreme Court of India, which in April 2017 termed the 2013 Act an “eminently workable” piece of legislation.