Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Pankaj Kumar, Ajay Tirkey sworn in as Lokpal members

New Delhi, Former Law Commission chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi along with ex-bureaucrats Pankaj Kumar and Ajay Tirkey were on Wednesday sworn in as members in the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal. The oath was administered by Lokpal chairperson Justice A M Khanwilkar at its office in Delhi, a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

The new appointments took place as two existing judicial members - Justice P K Mohanty and Justice Abhilasha Kumari - and three members namely D K Jain, Archana Ramasundaram and Mahender Singh completed their tenure in Lokpal on March 26, a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, who has been sworn in as the judicial member in the Lokpal, served as the chairperson of 22nd Law Commission of India. Before that, he was Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, it said.


Kumar is a 1986-batch Indian Administrative Service (retired) officer from Gujarat cadre.

He last served as the Chief Secretary of Gujarat. Kumar and Tirkey have been sworn in as the members of the anti-graft ombudsman.

Tirkey is a 1987-batch IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre. He last served as the Secretary of Department of Land Resources, government of India before being named as the Lokpal member.

Apart from a chairperson, the Lokpal can have eight members - four judicial and as many non-judicial.