The Supreme Court quashes appointment of P J Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner.
The Supreme Court has struck down the appointment of PJ Thomas as the CVC. The SC has called his appointment illegal and has said he must go.
Apex court rejects the contention of Thomas and the government that the appointment of the CVC cannot be brought under judicial review. SC says legality of the recommendation can be brought under judicial review.
SC says any future appointment should not be restricted to civil servants alone but people of impeccable integrity from other fields should also be considered.
Apex court says the touchstone for the appointment of the CVC is the institutional integrity as well as the personal integrity of the candidate.
The committee and no government authority focussed on larger issue of institutional integrity of the office of CVC while recommending the name of Thomas, says SC.
SC rejects government's contention that vigilance clearance given by the CVC in 2008 was the basis for empanelment of Thomas as a candidate for the post of CVC.
The Supreme Court says that the high-powered comittee's recommendation on appointment of Thomas "does not exist in law".
The Supreme Court pronounced the verdict right now on the basis of petitions challenging the appointment of former bureaucrat P J Thomas, who is facing a corruption case in Kerala.
A bench of Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar had reserved its judgment on February 10. The public interest litigation filed by an NGO, Center for Public Interest Litigation, and retired bureaucrats and police officials, including former Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh, had challenged Thomas' appointment to the post in view of a pending criminal case against him in a Kerala court. Thomas was appointed CVC on September 7 last year.
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