Government stance on vigilance chief a lie: BJP
January 27th, 2011 - 9:23 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday termed as a “patent lie” the government telling the apex court that the panel that selected P.J. Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) was not informed about a pending charge sheet against him. The party said it will file an affidavit in the apex court to put the record straight.”Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj would file an affidavit in the Supreme Court to put the record straight. It has exposed the patent lie of the government conveyed to the court,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said here.
He said that Swaraj, who was a member of the three-member committee for selection of the CVC, had conveyed that a charge sheet was pending against Thomas in the palm oil import case.
Prasad said she had very clearly stated that the government could select from among the two other names before the selection panel and suggested that the process of appointment may be deferred by a day. “But the government insisted on appointing him (Thomas),” Prasad said.
Prasad said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should tell the nation when he learnt that criminal prosecution was pending against Thomas in the palm oil import case.
He said the government never said it was not aware of the prosecution pending in the palm oil import case.
Attacking the prime minister, Prasad said while former communications minister was an alibi in the 2G spectrum scam and Suresh Kalmadi similarly in the Commonwealth Games scam, “the trail in the case of appointment of the CVC leads to the door of the PM”.
“There is no alibi… There is a most scandalous empire under you. The manner in which the government is functioning is utterly callous and deliberately indifferent,” he said.
At the meeting of the committee for selection of the CVC Sep 3 last year, Swaraj had recorded her disagreement over the selection of Thomas. The committee, which also comprises the prime minister and Home Minister P. Chidambaram, had recommended selection of Thomas by majority.
The Supreme Court was told Thursday that the high-powered committee for selection of the CVC was not informed about a pending charge sheet against Thomas and the sanction granted by the Kerala government to prosecute him in the palm oil import case.
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- Congress distances from government stance on CVC - Jan 27, 2011
- Apex court questions Thomas' appointment procedure (Lead) - Jan 27, 2011
- Can examine lapses in CVC's appointment: Apex court - Feb 08, 2011
- Sushma Swaraj to challenge Govt. on CVC appointment in court - Jan 27, 2011
- Chidambaram denies having misled CVC selection committee - Feb 02, 2011
- CVC committee not told of pending chargesheet against Thomas - Jan 27, 2011
- Chidambaram defends CVC's appointment - Jan 31, 2011
- CVC Thomas 'fully eligible' for post, government tells apex court - Jan 18, 2011
- Unaware of CVC Thomas case: Government to Supreme Court - Jan 27, 2011
- Supreme Court frowns on CVC clean chit for Thomas - Feb 03, 2011
- Sushma Swaraj says will not file affidavit on CVC case - Feb 01, 2011
- Chidambaram says didn't mislead Sushma Swaraj on Thomas - Feb 02, 2011
- Chidambaram's comments on CVC issue are his afterthoughts, alleges Sushma Swaraj - Feb 02, 2011
Tags: apex court, bharatiya janata party, commonwealth games, criminal prosecution, cvc, government stance, j thomas, leader of opposition, Lok Sabha, manmohan, manmohan singh, member committee, oil import, palm oil, prasad, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, ravi shankar, selection panel, sushma swaraj