BJP, Congress face off over appointment of PP Rao to Lokpal

The setting up of the Lokpal Selection Committee that will pick India’s first Lokpal has hit a roadblock with the Congress-led UPA government and main opposition unable to see eye to eye on the appointment of the fifth member to the panel.

According to the law, the selection committee consists of the prime minister, speaker of the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, a nominee of the Chief Justice of India (or the CJI himself) and a fifth member who is to be an eminent jurist, who is to be picked by the other four by consensus.

The selection of this fifth member has emerged as a contentious issue with Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj stating that PP Rao, senior Supreme Court lawyer who the UPA appears to be backing, is a Congress loyalist.

Swaraj said Rao had fought several cases in SC for the Centre and could therefore be partisan. BJP leaders have instead proposed the names of Harish Salve and K Parasaran, said reports.

The UPA had earlier shortlisted six lawyers for the fifth position on the selection committee. These included Soli Sorabjee, Fali S Nariman, K Parasaran, KK Venugopal, Harish Salve and A-G G E Vahanvati. The list, however, was later amended to retain Parasaran and Nariman’s names, with the addition of PP Rao, Prof Upendra Baxi, Prof N R Madhava Menon, Prof Mohan Gopal and KN Chandrashekharan Pillai.

The UPA has appeared keen to form the selection committee early, perhaps with an eye on appointing the Lokpal before elections to the Lok Sabha.