Congress hopes CVC Thomas will quit on his own

Central Vigilance Commissioner PJ Thomas refused to quit from his post on Friday, even as the pressure on the government is increasing over his appointment. According to government sources, the CVC refused to quit even after government has asked him to. Government had also offered him to rehabilitation if he quit, but Thomas refused the offer saying, “Resigning at this stage will leave him tainted.” The ‘helpless’ government is now hoping that the Supreme Court will itself quash his appointment after examining legalities involved with the case. The source also revealed that it is unlikely for the government to initiate President’s action as Thomas has done nothing wrong as the CVC. Apart from the SC’s tough stand on the issue when the government was asked to explain the procedure followed in PJ Thomas’ appointment, what added to the level of discomfort are the claims by Sushma Swaraj that the government is speaking lies on the issue and that she will file an affidavit in court to put the record straight on her dissenting note in his selection over a corruption case.
Government sources said the law officer was responding to queries whether the CVC selection panel knew about the chargesheet against Thomas. To this Vahanvati said, no papers to this effect were circulated. This was not the same as saying he or the government did not know about the case pending against Thomas.