SC axes CVC Thomas, PM suffers blow

In a historic judgement that left the Prime Minister’s image bruised, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the apppointment 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 PM.

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 court acted on a petition challenging appointment of Thomas as the country’s chief corruption watchdog since his past records on corruption issues were not clean.

The court also found fault in the committee of the Prime Minister that appointed Thomas and said the government should have gone beyond his bio-data.

“While quashing the appointment of Thomas as CVC, the Supreme Court said, before his selection the high powered committee must have ensured not only of impeccability and integrity of the person but also that the CVC can function as the premier anti-corruption institution,” said Prashant Bhushan, the civil rights lawyer representing the NGO that petitioned against the appointment.

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.

Bhusan said the apex court said it should be ensured that the high powered committed should have considered the pending chargesheets against the CVC.

The court has also laid down some important guidelines for future appointments, observing that the current practice of appointing only a civil servant or bureaucrat in the post should be seen as a wrong practice and it can be extended to include those outside that circle and they should be shortlisted only on the basis of impeccability and integrity.

Bhusan said the court also observed that any dissent of the selection panel overruled by a majority should be after a cogent reason so that judicial review can be done.

Bhusan said the verdict should spur the government to bring a Lok Pal Bill of some meaning.

Reacting to the judgement, Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily said the government will respect the the Supreme Court action and make rectifications, even as the Opposition said the Prime Minister must answer the nation on the issue.

Immediately after the judgement, that dealt a massive blow the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and the Prime Minister personally, there was uproar in Parliament and an explanation was demanded by BJP Rajya Sabha leader Arun Jaitley.

The first response of the government came from Veerappa Moily. “We are here to rectify and move forward,” he told reporters, also confirming that Thomas has resigned immediately after the judgement.

“We would like to look at the judgement and them come out with a rectification,” he said, refusing to comment much on the issue.

Moily said many times executive orders are challenged and these are procedural things which are rectified later.

“At the moment we cannot talk of the pro and con,” he said when queried if the PM’s image took a serious beating following the verdict.

In an immdiate reaction, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose leader Sushma Swaraj had opposed his appointment as one of the members of the panel, said the appointment was wrong from the very first day.

“This is the biggest blow to the UPA government. This is the biggest blow to Mr Manmohan Singh, to Sonia Gandhi, to the Congress party,” said BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the PM has to answer the nation and “we charge that he was retained because CVC controls the CBI”.

“His appointment was like a scheme,” said Prasad.

The Left parties said the PM and the Home Minister, who was also on the panel, must take responsibility.

“We stand vindicated since we were opposing him from the very beginning,” said Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechuri.

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.