President Droupadi Murmu gave former Supreme Court judge Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar the oath of office on Sunday, over two years after the position became vacant, as the chairperson of the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar were present at the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
In a ceremony held Sunday evening at Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Murmu gave Khanwilkar the oath of office as chairperson, Lokpal, according to an official release.
The Lokpal chairperson was appointed in the final week of February by Justice (retired) Khanwilkar.
Since Pinaki Chandra Ghose’s term ended on May 27, 2022, the Lokpal has been operating without a regular chief.
Last month, three former chief justices were appointed to the Lokpal: Sanjay Yadav, the former chief justice of Allahabad High Court, Lingappa Narayana Swamy, the former chief justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court, and the chairperson of the Law Commission of India, Ritu Raj Awasthi.
Judge Khanwilkar, 66, retired, presided over the highest court as a judge from May 13, 2016, until July 29, 2022.
Khanwilkar wrote a number of significant rulings in his final year that upheld broad authority over people in three special laws: the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Act, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
In addition, he was involved in a number of other rulings, such as the historic 2018 decision that invalidated Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which made consenting to gay intercourse a crime.
He was a member of the Constitution bench that upheld the constitutionality of the Center’s flagship Aadhaar program but invalidated certain of its features, such as the connection to bank accounts, mobile phones, and school admissions.
The wife of murdered MP Ehsan Jafri, Zakia Jafri, filed a plea in 2022 contesting the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) clear vote of 64 individuals, including then-chief minister Narendra Modi, in the 2002 Gujarat riots case. Justice Khanwilkar was a member of the bench that dismissed the plea.
Judge Khanwilkar handed down a ruling two days prior to his retirement, endowing the Enforcement Directorate with vast authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Khanwilkar, who was born in Pune, formerly served as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh High Courts.
The President appoints the prime minister as chair of the Selection Committee and the other members of the Lokpal following receipt of the committee’s recommendations.
The Lokpal may consist of four judicial members and an equal number of non-judicial members, in addition to a chairperson.
Sushil Chandra, Pankaj Kumar, and Ajay Tirkey—all former government servants—have been named as the Lokpal’s non-judicial members.
According to officials, the most recent appointments made to the anti-corruption ombudsman are a major step in strengthening the Lokpal’s operations and maintaining accountability in India’s political system.
