It's about the PM, not P.J.Thomas

"The papers and file were not so circulated. It was not before the committee. The material pertaining to the sanction for prosecution under Section 120 B of the Indian Penal Code was not before the committee. " So said the Attorney General of India to the Supreme Court of India. The papers he is talking about pertains to a charge sheet filed against (amongst others) P.C.Thomas, Kerala cadre IAS officer, in a corruption case in the 90's. Before what Committee were these papers not circulated? The committee that will choose the next Vigilance Commissioner of India.

Whom does the committee comprise of? The Prime Minister of India, the Home Minister of India and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. So now are you getting the picture? The government submits to the court that the Prime Minister of this country was not apprised of the full facts of a corruption case pertaining to the appointment of a man as the watchdog of corruption in this country. This despite the fact that the Leader of Opposition has publicly disagreed to this appointment, citing this same case. Details of this case were all over the news, but somehow the honourable Prime Minister did not know about this.

Later, another member of the committee, Shri P. Chidambaram, tells us that this case was infact discussed within the committee. So then who is lying? When asked, we are told that this matter is sub-judice and no further comments will be made. Fine then - we all decided to wait for the Supreme Court to decide.

And yesterday, Supreme Court spoke. In a 73 page judgement, the Supreme Court has quashed the appointment of P.J.Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner. It has said that this committee has failed to take into consideration the details of the charges pending against him. To reiterate again, the commitee has the PM, HM and Leader of Oppn in LS. Leader of Opposition has in writing, objected to this appointment citing these same cases. The Prime Minister and Home Minister did not bother to listen to her, verify her claims or even justify their decision.

The question now is not whether P.J.Thomas is corrupt or not. There is a case pending against him (we don't know if he is guilty or not), and quite clearly that makes him ineligible for the post. So why was the Prime Minister insistent on this appointment? Why was he insistent in damaging another institution? Why did the most "honest" PM ever, decide to make this appointment? This same "honest" Prime Minister has presided over some unimaginable range of corruption, but got away with it by saying he was helpless (which in itself is a very damaging statement. The highest political authority being helpless when his own minister is looting, is actually a shame). In this particular case, he himself made the appointment. So was he helpless too? If so, was it because of Sonia Gandhi? If not, why this insistence on one man? He owes an explanation to the country.

This perhaps is the first time, the Supreme Court has quashed a direct appointment by the Prime Minister. If this isn't alarming enough, then what is?