New Delhi, July 14
The newly appointed Central Vigilance Commissioner, Pradeep Kumar, today asserted that there would be no compromise in fighting corruption and warned people to refrain from “witch hunt” to settle personal scores.

Terming corruption as a disease which is affecting people and nation, Kumar said: “Corruption is not a monopoly either of the higher echelon or the lower echelon. Wherever corruption is there, it has to be dealt strictly and persistently.

“The only caveat I put in our pursuit to punish the corrupt is that we do not want to create an environment where settling of personal scores takes place, where witch hunt takes place. We want to create an environment where honest people are able to work fearlessly,” he said.

Sixtytwo-year-old Kumar, former Defence Secretary, who took over as CVC today, declined to comment on his predecessor P J Thomas, whose appointment was quashed by the Supreme Court citing pending chargesheet in a corruption case against him in Kerala.

Thomas wanted that his appeal pending with President Pratibha Patil be decided first before Kumar could assume charge but his plea for urgent hearing in this regard was refused today by the Delhi High Court.

Kumar's appointment was cleared by a high-level panel comprising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on July 2. A 1972-batch Haryana cadre IAS officer, Kumar was today administered the oath of office by the President.

“Corruption is a kind of disease which is affecting people and the country. We cannot and will not compromise in the fight against corruption. We will try to develop a system where corrupt have no place to hide,” the CVC said.

Kumar, who will have a tenure of a little over three years, said: “Corrupt persons will be punished swiftly and definitely.” He had an interaction with commission's officers, who briefed him about the functioning of the anti-corruption watchdog.

“People have a lot of expectations from the CVC. We hope that we will be able to live up to that with the cooperation of all. There has to be transparency in the system,” Kumar said.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi among others. — PTI