The details of the individuals who applied for appointments in the Lokpal denied

An application was filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) seeking information about the appointments in the Lokpal.

1. Replying to the application, the DoPT turned the request to provide copies of communication sent to and received from individuals who refused /accepted the offer of the government to become the chairperson and members of anti-corruption body Lokpal informing that the file “is not readily available”.

2. The DoPT has declined to provide the details of individuals who have applied for the posts of chairperson / members of Lokpal intimating that the process for appointment of the chairperson / members of the Lokpal is under consideration of the competent authorities, as per the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act. Claiming exemption under section 8(1)(j), the reply says that the name of persons, their references/letters etc. can't be disclosed as it is the information of the individuals.

3. The reply from the DoPT provides the names of eight persons who were chosen for appointment as chairperson / members of the Search Committee during a meeting held in February 21, 2014. The search committee had selected the following members out of which F S Nariman and Justice K T Thomas subsequently refused to be part of the search panel:

i) Chairperson - Justice (retd) K T Thomas

ii) Seven members were:

-          F S Nariman (legal luminary),

-          Prof Meenakshi Gopinath (educationist),

-          M L Kumawat (former Director General of Border Security Force),

-          H K Dua (senior journalist and Rajya Sabha member),

-          Kaki Madhava Rao (former IAS officer),

-          S Y Quraishi (former Chief Election Commissioner) and

-          Prof Mrinal Miri (Rajya Sabha member).