27 March 2024: Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi has been sworn in as a judicial member of Lokpal, with the oath administered by Justice A. M. Khanwilkar, Chairperson of Lokpal of India. Additionally, Shri Pankaj Kumar and Shri Ajay Tirkey have taken the oath as members of Lokpal. The oath ceremony was held at the Lokpal of India office in New Delhi today.
Recently, two Judicial Members named Justice P.K. Mohanty and Justice Abhilasha Kumari, and three Members namely Shri D.K. Jain, Smt. Archana Ramasundaram, and Shri Mahender Singh completed their tenure in Lokpal on 26th March 2024. As a result, new appointments have taken place.
Before joining as a Judicial Member of Lokpal of India, Shri Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi served as the Chairperson of the 22nd Law Commission of India and was previously the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.
Shri Pankaj Kumar is an IAS officer from the 1986 batch of the Gujarat cadre. He served as the Chief Secretary of Gujarat before joining as a Member of Lokpal of India.
Shri Ajay Tirkey is an IAS officer from the 1987 batch of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. He served as the Secretary of the Department of Land Resources, Government of India before joining as a Member of Lokpal of India.
The ceremony was attended by Shri Praveen Kumar Srivastava, the Central Vigilance Commissioner, and other senior officials of CBI and ED.