Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: In a shocking act of defiance, tainted Central Vigilance Commissioner PJ Thomas refused to quit from his post on Friday, even as the pressure on the government is increasing over his appointment.
According to government sources, the CVC refused to quit even after government has asked him to. Government had also offered him to rehabilitation if he quit, but Thomas refused the offer saying, “Resigning at this stage will leave him tainted.”
The ‘helpless’ government is now hoping that the Supreme Court will itself quash his appointment after examining legalities involved with the case.
The source also revealed that it is unlikely for the government to initiate President’s action as Thomas has done nothing wrong as the CVC.
Apart from the SC’s tough stand on the issue when the government was asked to explain the procedure followed in PJ Thomas’ appointment, what added to the level of discomfort are the claims by Sushma Swaraj that the government is speaking lies on the issue and that she will file an affidavit in court to put the record straight on her dissenting note in his selection over a corruption case.
As per reports, the government wants to abandon Thomas before she files the affidavit as that would mean that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram would also become party to the legal case pertaining to the CVC – something the government clearly wants to avoid.
Thomas was selected as the CVC in September last by a committee comprising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Sushma Swaraj. Though Swaraj had given a written dissent, the committee selected Thomas on a majority basis.
Sushma Swaraj had claimed she opposed the appointment of Thomas, a Kerala cadre IAS officer, as his name had figured in the charge sheet of a corruption case regarding palm oil imports in Kerala in the 1990s.
