With the Bharatiya Janata Party raking up a controversy over the appointment of P.J. Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), the government on Wednesday said he was not in any way involved the 2G spectrum scam and there was no blemish on him.
Highly-placed sources said that the government does not agree with the reported contention of BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj that her choice among the three candidates should be accepted by the government in selecting the new CVC.
Ms. Swaraj, who is a member of the three-member committee along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P. Chidambaram to select the CVC, is said to have agreed with the government’s logic that Mr. Thomas was cleared in the inquiries before actual appointment and there was no question of any blemish on him.
The government had told her that Mr. Thomas came into the Telecom Ministry much after the alleged 2G scam had taken place and he had no role in it.
However, the Leader of Opposition is believed to have maintained that stain remains on the former Telecom Secretary.
Her contention was that once the government had given her three names, she would select the final one to which the Home Minister disagreed by saying that the law does not provide for this, the sources said.
Referring to the reported note written by the Department of Telecom to the Ministry’s legal adviser seeking opinion on whether the CAG had the authority to challenge the policy decision taken by the government, the sources said the Secretary cannot be blamed if the Minister asks him to write.
