Centre defends Thomas''s appointment, questions SC authority

New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) The Centre today stronglydefended the appointment of controversial bureaucrat P JThomas, facing a corruption case in a Kerala court, as CentralVigilance Commissioner, saying he was an "outstanding officer"with "impeccable integrity".

In an affidavit in the Supreme Court cleared byAttorney General G E Vahanvati, Government also said there wasno need for "consensus" of the three-member high poweredcommittee on CVC''s appointment.

While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home MinisterP Chidambaram had approved his appointment, Leader of theOpposition Sushma Swaraj, who was the third member of thepanel, opposed the same on account of Thomas''s "tainted"image.

The affidavit said no statutory norms were violated inthe appointment of Thomas and his suitability for the postshould not be decided by the apex court.

"It is well settled that a question of suitabilityshould be left to the wisdom of the appointing authority.

Suitability cannot be questioned by the court and thesuitability should be left to the wisdom of the appointingauthority,".