Bhubaneswar: Former Chief Justice of Guwahati High Court Ajit Singh was on Saturday appointed as the first Lokayukta of Odisha, officials said.

Governor of Odisha, Ganeshi Lal, has approved Singh’s name following recommendation of a search committee with effect from the date of taking oath of office, they said.

The office of the anti-corruption watchdog will start functioning from April 8.

A seven-member search committee — formed in December 2018 under the chairmanship of justice Amitava Roy – had suggested five names for the post of the Lokayukta chairperson and three names each for the five members in its report to the Chief Minister-led panel on January 9.

The committee had former Odisha DGP Gopal Nanda, ex-IAS officer Sanjiv Hota, former IAS officer Dr RN Bohidar, Dr Bidhu Bhusan Samal, Prof Snigdha Patnaik of XIMB and Vice Chancellor of National Law University, Bangalore, Dr Venkata Rao Rambhatla as its members.

Notably, Odisha was the first state to pass the Lokayukta Bill on February 14, 2014, after the Lokpal Bill was cleared by Parliament in December, 2013. The government the Odisha Lokayukta Act, 2014 and the Odisha Lokayukta Rules, 2018, on July, 7, 2018.