Congress top brass to discuss CVC Thomas

The Congress Core Committee will be meeting at party chief Sonia Gandhi?s residence to discuss the Supreme Court order to strike down the appointment of PJ Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) of India, the top corruption watchdog of the nation chosen by a panel headed by the Prime Minister.

Earlier, Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily met Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s (PMO) V Narayanswamy to discuss the SC verdict.

The judgement dealt a body blow to the image of the embattled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, fighting the ghosts of the 2G scam allegedly enacted by his coalition partner, since the CVC was chosen by a panel headed by none other than Singh himself, overruling the dissent by Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj.

The Prime Minister said he will make a statement in Parliament on the issue, latest reports said.

The government, represented by Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, said it respects the verdict and will make rectifications, while the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj, who had opposed the selection of Thomas, said the dignity of the office of CVC has been restored.

Thomas resigned immediately after the judgement that held his appointment illegal and void.

Thomas sent his resignation to the Prime Minister after the verdict by a three-judge bench of the apex court headed by the Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia.

The judgement came in response to a petition by Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) challenging the appointment as he was charge-sheeted in an oil import case in Kerala in the 1990s, something he had not been mentioned in his bio-data during the appointment.

Thomas also allegedly had a role in covering up the 2G Spectrum scam as the then-Telecom secretary.

The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia also included justices KS Radhakrishnan and Swatantar Kumar.

The petitioner?s counsel Prashant Bhushan pointed that the Leader of Opposition (Sushma Swarag), who is member of the panel that appoints the CVC, had opposed Thomas? appointment for the post.