Three ex-judges of SC among 16 applicants for Lokpal's post

The list of applicants has been made public to enhance transparency and public confidence

Three ex-Supreme Court judges, a former high court chief justice, one UGC member and an information commissioner are among 16 persons who have applied for the chairmanship of proposed anti-corruption body Lokpal.

The list, which has been made public by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) after an order of Information Commissioner Sudhir Bhargava on the plea of Subhash Agrawal, shows the Supreme Court had nominated Justices Gyan Sudha Mishra, C K Prasad and Balbir Singh Chauhan, who have now retired, for the position.

Retired Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court M Karpaga Vinayagam, who is Chairman, Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, former UGC member and former Information Commissioner M M Ansari, Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu are also among those who have applied for the post directly.

Teacher Arun Ganesh Jogdeo, social workers Chandra Bhushan Mishra and Chappidi Venkateswara Nana Rao, journalist Gulshan Kumar Bajwa, advocate Viney Bhushan Bhatia, steel company employee Anjani Kumar, Magha Ram Prajapati of 'Professional and Spiritual Persuit', retired IAS Ram Sajiwan, ex-IPS K Nandabalan, Deepak Kumar of 'Competitive' are among the other applicants for the post.

Ram Sajiwan's application was received after the deadline ended and was forwarded by the Madhya Pradesh government.

In his directive for disclosure of names of applicants for various positions in Lokpal, advertised by DoPT, Information Commissioner Sudhir Bhargava had said the disclosure would enhance transparency and public confidence in the selection process.

"It is only when the names of the candidates for such sensitive post are disclosed that the public can bring up various facts, which may or may not have been disclosed by the candidates, to the notice of the Selection Committee.

"This would enhance public confidence in the selection process. Moreover, it is desirable that the entire selection process should be transparent," he had said.

DoPT had sought applications for one post of Chairman and eight positions -- four each for judicial and non-judicial members -- in the anti-graft body on January 17, 2014.