<div>The Centre is likely to go ahead with the appointment of the chairperson and members of Lokpal without Leader of Opposition as member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee.<br /><br />The rules for Lokpal search committee are being modified and a meeting of selection committee will be held soon to finalise its composition, official sources said.<br /><br />Once the search panel is formed and its recommendations are received by the selection committee, it will proceed with the appointment of chairperson and members of Lokpal, the sources said.<br /><br />According to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, "No appointment of a chairperson or a member shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy in the selection committee."<br /><br />The selection committee, led by Modi, has as its members the Lok Sabha Speaker, Leader of Opposition in the Lower House, the Chief Justice of India or a judge of the apex court nominated by him, and an eminent jurist who could be nominated by the President or any other member.<br /><br />The process of appointment of search committee members is underway, the sources said.<br /><br />Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is yet to take a decision on the issue of Leader of Opposition in the lower house.<br /><br />Congress with 44 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha has emerged as the second largest party after BJP's 282 but fell short by 11 to stake claim for Leader of Opposition (LoP) for which it requires a strength of 55.<br /><br />As per Direction 121 of the 'Directions of the Speaker', the Speaker should ensure that a Parliamentary party or group should have at least one-tenth of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha for being eligible for getting the LoP post.<br /><br />Simultaneously, the government is likely to proceed with the appointment of next Central Vigilance Commissioner and Vigilance Commissioner in Central Vigilance Commission without the LoP, the sources said.<br /><br />CVC Pradeep Kumar and Vigilance Commissioner J M Garg are due to retire in September this year.<br /><br />Central Vigilance Commissioner and Vigilance Commissioner are to be appointed by the President on the basis of recommendation from a three-member committee consisting Prime Minister as chairperson and Minister of Home Affairs and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha as members, as per the CVC Act, 2003.<br /><br />"No appointment of a Central Vigilance Commissioner or a Vigilance Commissioner shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy in the committee," the Act says.<br /><br />The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, which had got assent from President Pranab Mukherjee on January 1 this year, provides for the establishment of Lokpal for the Union and Lokayuktas for the states to inquire into corruption charges against public functionaries.<br /><br />The UPA government had in February this year hurriedly formed an eight-member search committee comprising Justice (retd) K T Thomas (as chairperson) and seven other members.<br /><br />The members included Kaki Madhava Rao (former IAS officer), F S Nariman (legal luminary), Prof Meenakshi Gopinath (educationist), M L Kumawat (former Director General of Border Security Force), H K Dua (senior journalist and Rajya Sabha member), S Y Quraishi (former Chief Election Commissioner) and Prof Mrinal Miri (Rajya Sabha member).<br /><br />But both Thomas and Nariman had refused to be part of the search panel.<br /><br />(PTI)</div>
