Sushma Swaraj to challenge Govt. on CVC appointment in court

NEW DELHI - Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, on Thursday said she would be filing an affidavit before the Supreme Court giving her point of view on the controversial appointment of Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) PJ Thomas.

“The government’s argument in the Supreme Court today is completely untrue. I personally brought this fact to the notice of the Prime Minister and Home Minister in the meeting. My precise objection was in regards to the Palmolein case. However, they persisted with his appointment. I have finally decided to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court over this issue,” said Sushma Swaraj.

“In my affidavit, I will provide a blow by blow account and the sequences of the conversations that took place in the meeting. So far, I have stayed away from the judicial process, but now enough is enough,” she added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran further said: “I had asked the Home Minister to verify his fact, but they were adamant to clear his name at the same meeting. I recorded my dissent in writing.

“The fact that the government is now trying to wash its hands off the CVC’s appointment clearly shows that they are in a dilemma and they don’t even know what to say before the Supreme Court. It is unfortunate and shameful today that they are saying that they were not aware of the cases against Thomas,” added Sushma Swaraj.

The Government earlier today told the Supreme Court that they were not aware of the cases pending against PJ Thomas.

This was stated by Attorney General G E Vahanvati before a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia, which wanted to know if the issue of sanction and the charge sheet against Thomas was presented before the three-member committee headed by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh selected him for the assignment.

“It was not before the committee. The material pertaining to the sanction for prosecution under section 120 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was not before the committee,” Vahanvati said.
The response of Attorney General came on a question from the bench whether the material relating to the charge sheet and sanction was presented before the committee.

An NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation, and others had challenged Thomas’ appointment as the CVC, quoting the Palmolein import corruption case in which Thomas is an accused.

The Supreme Court had asked the government to answer several questions on the appointment of Thomas as the CVC while he was facing corruption charges. (ANI)