Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi sworn in as Lokpal member

New Delhi, March 27; Former Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi (Retd), was administered the oath of office as one of the three judicial members of Lokpal at the Lokpal of India office here on Wednesday.

Justice Awasthi was serving as the Chairperson of the 22nd Law Commission of India since November 2022. He tendered his resignation to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice on Tuesday.

Under his chairmanship, among other things, the law panel had recommended the retention of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with sedition, and solicited public views to examine the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, recently appointed Justices Lingappa Narayana Swamy, Sanjay Yadav, and Ritu Raj Awasthi as judicial members of the anti-corruption body.

Earlier this month, former Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar was sworn in by President Murmu as Lokpal’s Chairperson.

Justice Khanwilkar on Wednesday also administered the oath of office to Pankaj Kumar, a 1986 batch IAS officer from Gujarat cadre, and Ajay Tirkey, former Secretary in the Department of Land Resources, as members of Lokpal.