30 Nov : The Supreme Court on Tuesday virtually questioned the tenability of Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas supervising the CBI’s investigations into the 2G spectrum scandal as he himself was Telecom Seceratary at the relevant point of time.
A bench of justices G S Singhvi and Ashok Kumar Ganguly pointed out that since the CBI functions under the over all supervision of the CVC it would be difficult for Thomas to objectively monitor the investigations.
“CBI is functioning under the CVC, at that time he(Thomas) was functioning as Telecom Secretary. It would be difficult for him to objectively monitor.”
“He had justified the action which are being subject to scrutiny by this court and CBI. It would be difficult for him to objectively supervise.” the bench observed.
At this stage, Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium assured the court that he would respond to the court’s query after seeking necessary instruction from the government.
However, senior counsel K K Venugopal appearing for the CBI, citing the Central Vigilance Act, submitted that there was a provision for allowing one of the Vigilance Commissioner to take over the functions of the CVC.
This is whenever a contingency arises wherein it becomes difficult for the incumbent (CVC) to function for some reason or the other.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), which has brought the matter to the court, submitted that he has no objection to such a proposal as one of the Vigilance Commissioner, R Shreekumar, a former DGP from Karnataka “enjoys a good reputation”.
But he insisted that apart from the Vigilance Commissioner monitoring the case, the court should appoint another officer with unimpeachable integrity to ensure a fair supervision of the investigation.
Earlier, during the hearing, the bench asked the government whether it has any objection to the court monitoring the investigation in the multi crore scandal.
Both Subramanium and Venugopal submitted that they have no objection to a court monitored investigation.
However, Venugopal added a rider that the court shall not appoint any outside independent agency to investigate as was urged by the CPIL.
BJP demands sacking of CVC
Demanding that Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas be sacked, BJP on Tuesday said he should not be provided with an “escape route” by allowing him to resign in the wake of observations made by the Supreme Court against him.
“He should be sacked. He should not be given an escape route by allowing him to resign,” BJP Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia told reporters.
He was asked to comment on media reports that Thomas has been asked to resign.
“Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj had given her dissent note but the Prime Minister and the Home Minister insisted on appointing him…he is named in the chargesheet as an accused in a 10-year-old case in Kerala,” he said.
He claimed that while government had claimed that Thomas was not an accused, a RTI reply revealed that his name is still in the chargesheet.
The Supreme Court had last week raised questions about Thomas’ controversial appointment as CVC despite his name figuring as an accused in a criminal case.
His name figures in the chargesheet filed in a palmoleine export case.