Supreme Court strikes down appointment of CVC Thomas

The Supreme Court today quashed the appointment of P.J. Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner, saying the recommendation made by the high-powered committee headed by the Prime Minister did not consider the relevant material and as such its advice 'does not exist in law'.

The Supreme Court has stressed during the trial that Mr Thomas cannot be in charge of fighting corruption as the Central Vigilance Commissioner when his own integrity is being questioned. Today, in its judgement, the court said, "The touchstone for the appointment of the CVC is the institutional integrity as well as the personal integrity of the candidate." The judges, headed by Chief Justice Kapadia, did clarify that they were not questioning Mr Thomas' personal integrity.

Justice Kapadia, who wrote the judgment, held invalid the HPC's decision and pointed out that as of date, Mr. Thomas was accused No. 8 in the Kerala palmolein case pending in the Court of the Special Judge, Thiruvananthapuram, for offences under Section 13(2) read with 13(1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and under Section 120B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

The Bench, quoting an earlier judgment, said eligibility criteria would indicate that eligible persons should be without any blemish whatsoever and they should not be appointed merely because they were eligible to be considered for the post.