IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA I.A. NO. _______OF 2014 IN CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.

245 OF 2014 IN THE MATTER OF: COMMON CAUSE : A REGISTERED SOCIETY ..PETITIONER VERSUS UNION OF INDIA APPLICATION PETITIONER To, The Honble Chief Justice of India and His Companion Justices of the Honble Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the petitioner abovenamed MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH: 1. The Petitioner is moving the present application in order to seek urgent interim directions from this Honble Court in view of the latest communication by the Prime Minister vide letter dated 11.04.2014 to all the members of the Selection Committee to indicate their availability between the 24th and the 28th April, 2014 so that a meeting of the Selection Committee could be held to appoint the Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal. FOR DIRECTION ON .RESPONDENT BEHALF OF THE

2. The present writ petition was filed questioning the selection process of Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal initiated under the Search Committee (Constitution, Terms and

Conditions of appointment of members and the manner of selection of Panel of names for appointment of Chairperson and Members of Lokpal) Rules, 2014. One of the main grounds of the challenge to the selection process was the fact that certainprovisions of the said Rules are ultra vires the parent Act and also illegal, arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. The impugned provisions of the Rules and the grounds of challenge are recapitulated below. (i) Rule 10 (1) of the said Rules, in so far as it provides that the Search Committee shall prepare a panel of persons to be considered by the Selection Committee for

appointment of Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal from amongst the list of persons provided by the Central Government directly runs counter to the very object of having an independent Lokpal and the provisions of the said Act; and (ii) Rule 10 (4) (i), in so far as it provides that non-judicial members of Lokpal, apart from having special knowledge and expertise of not less than twenty-five years in matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public

administration, vigilance or law, must have held or must be holding the post of Secretary to the Government of India or any equivalent post thereto under the Central

Government or a State Government, travels beyond the scope and ambit of the Lokpal Act, since Section 3 (3) (b) of the said Act, while selecting Non-judicial members of the Lokpal from persons having special knowledge and expertise of anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance or law, does not limit the field of selection to retired and serving Secretaries to the Government of India and holders of equivalent posts in the state governments, most of whom belong to the Indian Administrative Service. 3. Further, it is because of these illegal and arbitrary provisions of the said Rules that Honble Justice K. T. Thomas, who was offered the post of the Chairperson of the Search Committee, and Mr. Fali Nariman, who was selected as one of its members, declined to accept their respective offers and that no one has so far been appointed in their places. The Search Committee is still headless. 4. The present writ petition came up for hearing for the first time before this Honble Court on 31.03.2014 when notice was issued with a returnable date on 05.05.2014. It is submitted that during the said hearing a pointed question was put by this Honble Court to the Learned Solicitor General, who appeared for the Union of India, as to whether any step was at all being taken by the Central Government towards the selection of the Lokpal and its members. In response to the said query, the Learned Solicitor General made a categorical

statement in the open court that the Government was not doing anything in so far as the selection of Lokpal and its members was concerned. In view of this categorical statement by the Learned Solicitor General, this Honble Court did not pass any interim order, but was pleased to make an oral observation that if the petitioner were to come across any such development, it would be at liberty to approach this Honble Court for interim directions. 5. It is submitted that despite the fact that the Rules under which the Chairperson and Members of Lokpal are to be appointed are under challenge in the present writ petition and that this Honble Court has already issued notice and fixed the 05.05.2014 as the next date of hearing, the Government is pushing ahead with the process of appointment of the Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal. The petitioner has come to know that on the 11.04.2014, the Honble Prime Minister addressed a letter to all the members of the Selection Committee containing the following statement. As you know, the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 is a very important piece of legislation that has come into force with effect from 16 January, 2014. I hope you would agree with me on the need to appoint the Chairperson and Members of Lokpal as early as possible so that the institution can begin functioning. For moving forward with the selection process for appointment to these positions, it is essential that a meeting of the Selection Committee is

convened early. I would, therefore, request you to indicate dates between 24 and 28 April, 2014 when you will be available for a meeting of the Selection Committee. Copy of the Honble Prime Ministers letter dated 11.04.2014 is being annexed hereto as Annexure A (Form page nos. _____to_____). 6. It is submitted that the latest move by the Government to proceed with the appointment of the Chairperson and members of the Lokpal, even while this Honble Court is seized of the issue of the validity of the Rules framed under the Lokpal Act, is not only highly improper but also illegal and arbitrary. The Government is going ahead with the selection process in spite of serious flaws in the rules of selection, which are under challenge. Justice K. T. Thomas and Mr. Fali Nariman, who were offered the post of the Chairman and member of the Search Committee, respectively, have already declined to accept the offers on these very grounds. The unseemly haste with which the process of selection is being rushed through by the Central Government, which is on its last legs as the Lok Sabha Election is underway, clearly indicates a mala fide intent on the part of the Government to subvert the process of law and appoint pliable and

undeserving persons to the crucial institution of the Lokpal. PRAYERS

In view of the aforementioned facts and circumstances, this Honble Court may,during the pendency of the present writ petition, pleased to: a) direct Respondent No. 1 to put the entire selection process for appointment of Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal, initiated under the aforesaid Rules framed under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2014, in abeyance; and b) Pass any other order or direction as this Honble Court may deem fit and proper. be

PETITIONER

THROUGH COUNSEL FOR THE PETITIONER

PRASHANT BHUSHAN

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA I.A. NO. ______OF 2014 IN CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 245 OF 2014 IN THE MATTER OF: COMMON CAUSE : A REGISTERED SOCIETY ..PETITIONER VERSUS UNION OF INDIA AFFIDAVIT I, Kamal Kant Jaswal, Age 69 years, S/O Shri Ambica Prasad Jasvaul, Director of the Petitioner society having office at 5, Institutional Area, Nelson Mandela Road, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi110070, do hereby solemnly state and affirm as under. 1. That I am the Director of the Petitioner society in the abovementioned Writ Petition and being familiar with the facts and circumstances of the case, I am competent and authorised to swear this Affidavit 2. That I have read the contents of the accompanying application and I state that the same are believed to be true and correct to the best of my knowledge. 3. That the Annexure to this application is true copy of its original. .RESPONDENT

DEPONENT

VERIFICATION:

I, the deponent named above, do hereby verify that the contents of the aforesaid affidavit from para 1 to 3 are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief, that no part of it is false, and that nothing material has been concealed therefrom. Verified at New Delhi on this seventeenth day of April, 2014.

DEPONENT