Now, we will outline the main provisions of the Act. The Lokpal willhave a Chairperson and upto eight members. Four of these will be judicial members. The chairman can be i) a serving or retired chief justice of India; or ii) serving or retired Supreme Court judge or iii) an eminent person. A Judicial Member should be i) a serving or retired Judge of the Supreme Court or ii) a serving or retired Chief Justice of a High Court. A non-judicial member has to be a person of impeccable integrity and outstanding ability having special knowledge and expertise of not less than twenty- five years in the matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance including insurance and banking, law and management.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act provides that not less than fifty per cent of the Members of the Lokpal shall be from amongst the persons belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other BackwardClasses,Minoritiesand women.
The following categories of persons are ineligible for being chairman or members of the Lokpal
¤ Member of Parliament or a member of the Legislature
¤ Member of any Panchayat or Municipality
¤ A person convicted of any offence involving moral turpitude
¤ A person of less than forty-five years of age
¤ A person who has been removed or dismissed from the service of the Union or a State
¤ A person holding any office of trust or profit (other than his office as the Chairperson or a Member) or affiliated with any political party or carrying on any business or practising any profession. However, those holding any trust or office, those in business and profession can join Lokpal after giving up such vocations.
Manner of Appointment: Selection Committee
The President of India will appoint the Chairperson and Members of Lokpal based on the recommendations of a Selection Committee. The Selection committee will consist of–
(a) Prime Minister–chairperson;
(b) Speaker of the House of the People–member;
(c) Leader of Opposition in the House of the People–member;
(d) Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by him–member;
(e) One eminent jurist as recommended by committee members (a), (b), (c) to be nominated by the President–member.
The Selection Committee will have to constitute a Search Committee for preparing a panel of persons to be considered for appointment as the Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal. The Search Committee will have at least seven persons of standing. They should be experts in anti- corruption policy,publicadministration, vigilance, policymaking, finance includinginsurance and banking, law and management or in any other matter which the Selection Committee considers relevant. Not less than fifty per cent of the members of the Search Committee have to be from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minorities and women.
The Selection Committee may also consider any person other than the persons recommended by the Search Committee. The selection committee will devise its own procedures for carrying on its functions. The Chairperson and every Member shall, on the recommendations of the Selection Committee, be appointed by the President.
The chairman and members of Lokpal can hold office for 5 years or until they attain the age of 70 years. The chairman and members are barred from holding any other offices in the Central or State governments. They cannot fight elections for parliament, assemblies or local bodies for a period of five years after completing their tenure in the Lokpal.