M A I N   N E W S

Wasn’t aware of corruption case against Thomas: PM
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 8
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today made it clear that the official note forwarded to him for the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) did not contain information about any pending corruption case against PJ Thomas, whose appointment to the post has since been struck down by the Supreme Court.

Chavan passes buck to Kerala govt Pune: As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appeared to blame him for CVC PJ Thomas appointment fiasco, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday sought to pass the buck to the Kerala Government. “Vigilance clearance is done by the state,” Chavan told reporters here. — PTI

The Prime Minister told the Rajya Sabha this evening that he was not aware of the chargesheet against Thomas till the meeting of the selection committee on September 3 last year. He went on to add that he gave approval as he believed vigilance clearance would have been obtained as Thomas had earlier served as the Kerala Chief Secretary and the Secretary in the Central Government.

Responding to a question posed by Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley, he said, “Until I went to the meeting, I was not aware there was any such case of Palmolein and that would involve corruption.” He admitted he became “aware of this case only when the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha (Sushma Swaraj) raised the issue in the meeting itself.”

Jaitley asked him to clarify who was responsible for including Thomas’ name. The PM said the notes for such committees were prepared “under the guidance of Minister of State in charge of the DoPT”. The then MoS concerned was Prithviraj Chavan, now the Maharashtra CM.