A demand for a statement from Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling quashing the appointment of central vigilance commissioner, disrupted proceedings in the Lok Sabha on Friday. Immediately after the Question Hour, Left members as also the Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav raised the matter vociferously, leading to adjournment of the House for 45 minutes.
Contradicting Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas's counsel Wills Mathews said that Thomas has not resigned from his post. "It is incorrect. Thomas has not resigned."Citing the provisions in the CVC Act, Mathews said he can be removed only by the President or alternatively he can resign.
The Left Front on Thursday said the Supreme Court's quashing of the appointment of P J Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner was 'another serious blow' to the UPA government which is facing major corruption cases. "I think what the court said today only vindicates the position our party has taken at the outset. Now the government, which is facing major corruption charges, has to answer why they have been taking such decisions," said CPM leader Sitaram Yechury.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said he respected the Supreme Court verdict on the quashing of the appointment of P J Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
Dealing a big blow to the United Progressive Alliance government, the Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the appointment of P J Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner. The apex court held that the recommendation made by the high-powered panel -- headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- did not consider the relevant material and therefore its advice "does not exist in law".
Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas resigned from his post on Thursday following the Supreme Court verdict which quashed the appointment of the former bureaucrat.
Noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani on Monday announced his "break-up" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said his "diminishing respect" for Modi has "ended".
Sources said government headhunters Public Enterprise Selection Board had on September 29 last year, named Butola as its most preferred choice to head the nation's largest oil firm.
Embattled CVC P J Thomas told the Supreme Court that his appointment as Central Vigilance Commissioner cannot be subject to judicial review and that it does not not get vitiated merely because of chargesheet pending against him in a corruption case.
The government on Thursday faced yet another day of searching questions in the Supreme Court over vigilance clearance given to P J Thomas, maintaining that the Central Vigilance Commissioner cannot be the final authority in giving final clearance to an official facing corruption case. The court also said it would lay down guidelines for future appointment to the post of the CVC.
The government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that once a bureaucrat is given a vigilance nod for appointment as secretary, no further clearance is required for empanelment for appointment as the central vigilance commissioner. "Once a person is appointed as secretary on clearance by the CVC, he can be considered for empanelment and no further inquiry is required," Attorney General G E Vahanvati submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday accused Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj of making thoughtless allegations and "tying herself in knots" by levelling the charge that he had misled the panel which selected P V Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
The selection committee meeting to chose Central Vigilance Commissioner in September last year did discuss the issue of Palmolein case against P J Thomas, Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Monday but parried a question whether a "chargesheeted" person should have been appointed.
Even as the United Progressive Alliance government continues to be in a tizzy over the Central Vigilance C's appointment, sources say that PJ Thomas has refused to quit, primarily because he feels that he is an honest man and because as the central vigilance commissioner he enjoys immunity against prosecution, particularly in corruption cases.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Friday supported his colleague Sushma Swaraj's stand against the appointment of Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas, saying he could not have been chosen for the post as he had cases pending against him. "This controversy started even when I was the Leader of the Opposition," he said.
Senior Indian Administrative Service officer P J Thomas was on Tuesday sworn in as the new Central Vigilance Commissioner amid a boycott by main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been objecting to his appointment to the post in view of his alleged tainted background.
Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas may quit the post in the wake of stinging observations from the Supreme Court on his capacity to supervise the CBI probe into the 2G spectrum scam.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday virtually questioned the tenability of Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas supervising the Central Bureau of Investigation's probe into the 2G spectrum scandal as he himself was Telecom Seceratary at the relevant point of time.
2G Scam: SC ticks off CBI for not questioning Raja
The government placed the file relating to the appointment of P J Thomas as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner in the Supreme Court, which questioned as to how he would function in the post in view of a pending criminal case against him.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved the new guidelines for the appointment of Central Vigilance Commissioner, following which the government on Wednesday set the ball rolling for choosing a head of the top anti-corruption watchdog after the removal of controversial P J Thomas.The action came a month after the quashing of the appointment of Thomas as CVC by the Supreme Court as he is facing a corruption case.
There is no need for increased superintendence over the CBI in the aftermath of the coal blocks allocation and 2G scam cases, CVC K V Chowdary said on Sunday.
Former central vigilance commissioner P J Thomas has decided to move the Supreme Court seeking review by a Constitution bench of its March 3 judgment quashing his appointment, claiming that judiciary has no right to decide his eligibility for the post without prior reference from the President.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari, on Wednesday went against his colleague Sushma Swaraj, over the issue of the appointment of chief vigilance commissioner P J Thomas. Swaraj had earlier said that after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepted the blame for the appointment after the apex court struck it down, the issue was now over and it was time to move on.
"I respect the judgment of the Supreme Court and I accept my responsibility," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh responded on Friday, a day after the apex court struck down the controversial appointment of P J Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
Corruption is all-pervasive in Indian society and it's a surprise that the Union law minster does not see it that way, writes Mahesh Vijapurkar.
Defending his appointment as central vigilance commissioner, P J Thomas on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that there was no sanction to prosecute him in the Palmolein import case. In an affidavit, submitted to the apex court, Thomas said that his name was considered for empanelment for the post after the Central Vigilance Commission had given a clearance for it. He also said he was the senior-most bureaucrat to be considered for the CVC's job.
Embattled Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas on Monday side-stepped questions about him continuing in office in the wake of a corruption case against him, saying he was still the CVC. "I am still the CVC. The matter is in court. So no comments," said Thomas. The Supreme Court is hearing a PIL by the NGO Centre for Public Interest represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, questioning the legality of the CVC's appointment by a three-member selection committee.
Interestingly, the Congress party has also washed its hands off the entire episode saying the issue was between the government and the Supreme Court and it was for the law officers to make the position clear. "Where does the Congress come in the picture?" asked Janardhan Dwivedi who heads the AICC media department.
Slamming the government, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj termed as "untruth" its claim that the charges against Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas was not brought before the high-powered selection committee of which she was a member and said she would approach the Supreme Court in this regard.
The government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the issue of a chargesheet against Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas in a corruption case and the sanction granted by the Kerala government for his prosecution were not brought before the high-powered committee for selecting a candidate for the post.This was stated by Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati before a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia.
The party has been objecting to Telecom Secretary Thomas' appointment, saying that the move was aimed at burying the ongoing probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the Rs 60,000 crore spectrum scam.
P J Thomas, secretary in the Ministry of Telecommunications, is all set to be appointed as the new Central Vigilance Commissioner.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Home Minister P Chidambaram will meet on Monday to decide who will become the next central vigilance commissioner. According to the Supreme Court's instructions, the PM, home minister and the leader of Opposition has to finalise the CVC together. On Thursday, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan held an informal meeting with BJP leader Sushma Swaraj.
The government on Tuesday hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party on the appointment of PJ Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner saying the party did nothing when it was in power on sanctioning prosecution against him, as they could find any evidence against him.
A vigilance court in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday posted to January 25 the trial in the Palmolein import graft case, in which former chief minister and Congress stalwart late K Karunakaran and Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas figure in the list of accused. When the case came up on Wednesday, the public prosecutor informed the court that first accused K Karunakaran was no more and he would file a report in this regard soon.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Kerala government to go ahead with the trial in the multi-crore Palmolein oil scam involving Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas and former chief minister K Karunakaran. A bench of Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha gave the green signal after treating Karunakaran's appeal as 'abated' in view of his death on December 23 last year. The Kerala government had earlier moved the apex court seeking vacation of its stay on the trial.
"It is amusing to note that P J Thomas,whose appointment as the Central Vigilance Commissioner is under a shadow, should be delivering the key note address on corruption at a seminar organized by his own department. This is the height of defence of corruption," Naqvi told rediff.com.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh if he was aware of the cases against P J Thomas before the collegium appointed him as the Central Vigilance Commissioner.The BJP sought to know from the government why documents related to the charge-sheet in the Palmolein case in Kerala and those related to Thomas' efforts at 'covering up' the 2G spectrum allocation were not brought to the notice of the appointing collegium.
Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas is likely to step down from the post ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on Monday over his controversial appointment. Sources said that it was only a question of time before he sends his resignation -- may be as early as Saturday -- to President Pratibha Patil, who was his appointing authority.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances