New Delhi, Mar 18: Former Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose is set to be the first Lokpal or anti-corruption ombudsman of India, sources said on Sunday.
Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose was recommended to be the first Lokpal by the Selection Committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and eminent jurist Mukul Rohatgi.
Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, who was invited to be a part of the committee, did not attend the meeting.
The selection was made after the Supreme Court set the government a deadline.
Justice Ghose is the one who had convicted Sasikala, the live-in companion of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in a corruption case.
Justice Ghose, 67, who is a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) since June 2017, retired from the Supreme Court on May 27, 2017. He had assumed charge as Supreme Court judge on March 8, 2013. His was among the top 10 names shortlisted by the Lokpal Search Committee.
Sources said that the others members of the Lokpal would include four former High Court judges and four former civil servants.
