Seven-member Lokayukta search panel formed

BHUBANESWAR: The Lokayukta selection committee, led by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, on Monday formed a seven-member search panel to recommend names for chairman and members of Lokayukta.
The search committee will be led by retired Supreme Court judge Amitabh Ray. Other members of the panel are Venkata Rao Rambhatla, Sanjib Hota, Rabi Narayan Bohidar, Gopal Chandra Nanda (former DGP), Bidhubhusan Samal and Singdha Patnaik.
The search panel will be asked to find out and recommend suitable names to the CM-led selection panel within a month, government sources said.
According to Odisha Lokayukta Act-2014, the selection committee will appoint the six-member Lokayukta from among the names suggested to it by the search panel or even can pick names not suggested by the search panel.
Other members of the selection panel are the leader of opposition, speaker of Odisha legislative assembly, Orissa high court chief justice and former Supreme Court judge Ananga Patnaik.
The state government move comes ahead of the next hearing on January 23 in Supreme Court on a PIL filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, on implementation of the anti-corruption laws by various states and the Centre.
Earlier, the Supreme Court on July 10 had asked Odisha to complete process of Lokayukta appointment within two months. The state notified the Odisha Lokayukta Act-2014 and Odisha Lokayukta Rules-2018 on July 7, implementing the Act with immediate effect. The SC on April 19 had asked various states, including Odisha to apprise it the status by July 10.
According to the Odisha Act, the chairman would either be a sitting or a retired high court judge. The six-member Lokayukta panel would consist of at least two judicial members. From among the non-judicial members, there should be women, scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and minority category on rotation basis.
Chief minister and his council of ministers, former chief ministers, elected political representatives and bureaucrats are within the ambit of the Lokayukta’s powers.