Days after senior lawyer Fali Nariman declined to be part of the Lokpal search committee, more embarrassment was headed the government’s way with former Supreme Court judge K T Thomas turning down its offer to head the panel.
Thomas wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) declining consent and raising doubts over the two-layered procedure to finalize the chairman and members of the anti-corruption watchdog. Noting that the search panel’s recommendations were not binding on the selection panel, he wondered if it was worth having a search panel in the first place.
“I have written to PMO expressing disinclination to head the Lokpal search committee,” news agencies quoted Thomas as saying in Kottayam, Kerala.
“The reason is when I went through the rules, our committee which is called the search committee was to recommend names to the selection committee. The selection committee need or need not accept those names. So it was not worthwhile to have this search committee,” the former judge said.
The BJP seized on the successive snubs from Nariman and Thomas, describing them as a “double blow” to the government and alleging that they had exposed the Congress's design of hurriedly putting in place the ombudsman before it was out of power. The Congress, on its part, said giving or not giving consent was “private decisions” and could not be linked to the government.
Thomas wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) declining consent and raising doubts over the two-layered procedure to finalize the chairman and members of the anti-corruption watchdog. Noting that the search panel’s recommendations were not binding on the selection panel, he wondered if it was worth having a search panel in the first place.
“I have written to PMO expressing disinclination to head the Lokpal search committee,” news agencies quoted Thomas as saying in Kottayam, Kerala.
“The reason is when I went through the rules, our committee which is called the search committee was to recommend names to the selection committee. The selection committee need or need not accept those names. So it was not worthwhile to have this search committee,” the former judge said.
The BJP seized on the successive snubs from Nariman and Thomas, describing them as a “double blow” to the government and alleging that they had exposed the Congress's design of hurriedly putting in place the ombudsman before it was out of power. The Congress, on its part, said giving or not giving consent was “private decisions” and could not be linked to the government.
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