Court refuses to hear ex-CVC’s plea against successor
July 14th, 2011 - 2:06 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday refused to grant an urgent hearing on the plea of former Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) P.J. Thomas against the swearing-in of Pradeep Kumar as his successor.
A division bench of Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice Siddharth Mridul, referring to the scheduled oath ceremony of the new CVC, said it was difficult to hear the petition at the eleventh hour.
The court said Thomas’ plea could be listed for hearing Friday.
Thomas’ counsel Wills Mathews mentioned the matter at 10.30 a.m. Thursday and requested for urgent hearing of the plea.
In his writ petition filed on Wednesday, Thomas sought the court’s direction on the appeal filed by him March 16 and urged President Pratibha Patil to wait for a decision on this before appointing the new CVC.
“The main ground is that the decision was delivered by a three-judge bench. We are supporting the mandate of the constitution that it should have been by a five-judge bench,” said Mathews.
The Supreme Court had March 3 quashed Thomas’ appointment as the CVC as a chargesheet was pending against him in a corruption case. Thomas was appointed the CVC in September 2010.
“The warrant of appointment of Thomas was cancelled only on the basis of the said judgement. When the legality and the validity of the judgement in itself is disputed, it is our humble view that only after reaching a conclusion on the legality and validity of the judgement, the respondent should go ahead with the appointment of new CVC,” Mathews said.
- Ex-CVC Thomas withdraws plea against successor - Jul 19, 2011
- CVC Thomas resigns after Supreme Court tells him to go - Mar 03, 2011
- Prime Minister takes responsibility for Thomas' appointment as CVC - Mar 04, 2011
- CVC appointment was an error of judgement: Manmohan Singh - Mar 07, 2011
- Didn't know about chargesheet against Thomas, says former CVC - Mar 04, 2011
- BJP claims victory on PJ Thomas verdict, says Government 'stands exposed' - Mar 03, 2011
- Sushma Swaraj satisfied with PM owning responsibility over CVC fiasco - Mar 04, 2011
- CPI-M to react over CVC fiasco after PM's statement in Parliament: Yechury - Mar 05, 2011
- P.J. Thomas to file review petition in apex court - Mar 12, 2011
- AAI chief challenges contempt of court order - Aug 19, 2011
- Can examine lapses in CVC's appointment: Apex court - Feb 08, 2011
- Thomas ceases to be CVC, new CVC in due time: Moily - Mar 04, 2011
- CVC Thomas 'fully eligible' for post, government tells apex court - Jan 18, 2011
- President cancels Thomas's appointment as CVC - Mar 15, 2011
- Supreme Court questions Govt. on CVC appointment - Feb 03, 2011
Tags: corruption case, cvc, delhi high court, division bench, eleventh hour, humble view, j thomas, judgement, july 14, mandate, mathews, New Delhi, plea, pradeep kumar, president pratibha patil, respondent, siddharth, validity, vigilance, writ petition