Sushma slams govt over CVC Thomas' appointment

New Delhi, Jan 27: The government's response for Supreme Court's (SC) question created another controversy on Thursday, Jan 27. Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj had slammed the government's innocence face and claimed that they were already notified about the scam charges against the CVC PJ Thomas.

The SC asked government if papers related to the chargesheet against Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Thomas in Palmolein oil scam were circulated among the three-members of the committee that appointed Thomas.

Thomas was appointed by the three-member panel headed by PM Manmohan Singh, also comprised Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Sushma Swaraj.

Attorney General GE Vahanvati on Thursday told SC that the chargesheet against Thomas in a corruption case and sanction granted by Kerala government for his prosecution were not brought to the notice of high-powered committee before appointing him as CVC.

The Vahanvati statement defended government's stand, which means that the PM Singh was not aware of the charges against Thomas, while appointing him as CVC in Nov 2010.

Sushma Swaraj slammed the statement stating this was not true and said, "I personally brought this to the notice of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister... now I've decided to file an affidavit before the Supreme Court."

Thomas' appointment is being heard by the Supreme Court on the basis of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Prashant Bhushan.

Thomas has been accused for his alleged involvement in the import of Palmolein oil from a Singapore based firm at prices higher than the international rate, that caused the exchequer a loss of Rs 2.32 crore.

OneIndia News
(With inputs from PTI)