President administers oath of office to Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose as Lokpal chief

New Delhi, Mar 23 President Ram Nath Kovind Saturday administered the oath of office to Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose as the nation's first Lokpal.

The oath was administered at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, a report issued by the President's office said.

Justice Ghose, a former Supreme Court judge, was Tuesday named the nation's first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman.

Former Chief Justices of different high courts - Justices Dilip B Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari - besides sitting Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Ajay Kumar Tripathi were appointed as judicial members in the Lokpal.

Former first woman chief of Sashastra Seema Bal Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra chief secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and Gujarat framework ex-IAS officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam are the Lokpal's non-judicial members.

Justice Ghose, 66, retired as a Supreme Court judge in May 2017. He was serving in as the member from the National Human Rights Commission when his name was declared for the post of Lokpal chairperson.

The Lokpal and the Lokayukta Act, which visualizes appointment of a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants, was passed on 2013.

According to the rules, there is provision for a chairperson and a maximum of eight members in the Lokpal board. Of these, four need to be judicial members.

Not less than 50 percent of the members of the Lokpal shall be from amongst the persons belonging to the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, minorities and ladies, the rules say.

Upon selection, the chairperson and members will hold office for a term of five years or till they accomplish 70 years old.

The salary and allowances of the chairman will be same as that of the Chief Justice of India.

The members will be paid salary and allowances same as that of a judge of the Supreme Court.