New Delhi: After having dragged its feet on the issue of Lokpal appointments for over four years, the Centre has now also refused to share information about the appointment process. This has irked RTI activists who have been seeking transparency in the matter. They have expressed apprehension, that in the absence of any opposition leader on the selection panel, decision-making would be arbitrary.In response to a first appeal filed by RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) recently upheld the decision of the central public information officer to deny information.Also read: Why the SC Was Disappointed With the Centre’s Affidavit in Lokpal Selection CaseIn its order of January 23, it said the plea had sought “authorship of documents sought” vested in “3-5 high-level dignitaries,” which included the prime minister, speaker of Lok Sabha and chief justice of India.Thus, it said, for sharing the documents sought, the officer would have had to “seek specific consent of each of high-level dignitary before providing secret information to the applicant/appellant.”Bhardwaj responded angrily and tweeted that there was a “bizarre denial of information.”Bizarre denial of info about appointments to Lokpal by @BJP4India govt. No leader of opposition in Lokpal selection committee & no transparency will result in arbitrary appointments. TOTAL violation of spirit of Lokpal law – no point having Lokpal that isn’t independent of govt. pic.twitter.com/rdrGtWQqYY— Anjali Bhardwaj (@AnjaliB_) January 30, 2019Earlier in December 2018, the DoPT response to Bhardwaj’s appeal had revealed how for 45 months no meetings were convened to appoint the Lokpal.The nodal department stated that the first two meetings of the selection committee were held on February 3 and February 21, 2014 respectively under the chairmanship of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. They were both attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Justice H.L. Dattu of the Supreme Court. The second meeting was also attended by eminent jurist P.P. Rao.Thereafter, it was only in 2018 that six meetings of the selection committee were held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Bhardwaj had pointed out, that while the selection committee of the Lokpal met for the first time more than 45 months after the BJP came to power, no meeting of the search committee had been held till date. “This,” she said, “betrays the commitment of the government in setting up the Lokpal.”Also read: In RTI Replies, Evidence of How Modi Dragged His Feet on Lokpal AppointmentMeanwhile, DoPT today announced that an advertisement would soon be issued to invite applications for the post of chairman and members of Lokpal. On Tuesday, this issue was deliberated at a meeting of an eight-member search committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.The panel is scheduled to meet again within a fortnight.While on the face of it, the government is trying to project that it is now working on the idea of setting up a Lokpal, it is only happening because of a nudge from the Supreme Court.On January 17, the apex court had set a February-end deadline for the search committee to send a panel of names to the selection committee chaired by the prime minister.