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The Law Commission Chairman, Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, has resigned from the commission after a 17-month tenure as the chairperson of the commission and will take oath as one of the three judicial members of the Lokpal at 11 am today.
Justice Awasthi assumed his tenure in November 2022 as chairperson of the Law Commission of India, along with five members of the commission. He gave his resignation to the Ministry of Law and Justice on Tuesday. The President of India recently appointed Justice Lingappa Swamy, Justice Sanjay Yadav and Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi as the judicial members of Lokpal. Before the Law Commission, Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi was the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court from October 11, 2021, to July 2, 2022. He was a judge of the Allahabad High Court from April 13, 2009, to October 10, 2021. Justice Rituraj Awasthi graduated in law from Lucknow University in 1986 and enrolled as an advocate on February 1, 1987. He earlier practiced civil service, and educational matters at Lucknow Bench, Allahabad High Court. He also worked as an Assistant Solicitor General of India at Lucknow before his elevation. According to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, the organisation consists of one chairperson and a maximum of eight other members and out of those eight members four are judicial members who are or have been judges of the Supreme Court or chief justices of a high court. The remaining four non-judicial members are people of impeccable integrity and outstanding ability who have special knowledge and expertise of not less than twenty-five years in matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance, including insurance and banking, law and management. The newly appointed Chairman, Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar, is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. He has also served as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and Himachal Pradesh High Court and as a judge of the Bombay High Court. The anti-corruption body has been without a full-time chairperson since May 2022.The Lokpal has jurisdiction over the central government to inquire into allegations of corruption against its public functionaries and for matters connected to corruption. (ANI)
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