Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati has issued the following clarification about his arguments in the Supreme Court on Thursday in the case of appointment of P.J. Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner.
“My attention has been drawn to the reports appearing in the media as to what allegedly transpired in the proceedings before the Supreme Court in the case relating to the appointment of CVC Mr. P.J. Thomas.
“To a specific query of the Court as to whether the papers and the file pertaining to the [Kerala] Palmolein case pending against Mr. Thomas, request for sanction and subsequent correspondence were circulated before the Members of the Committee, I made a statement that the papers and file were not so circulated.
“The Petitioners raised the issue as what was stated by the Leader of the Opposition. The Petitioners alleged that the Leader of the Opposition orally raised the issue about the pending case. I informed the Court that the Note on the Proceedings showed that the Leader of the Opposition had endorsed ‘I disagree'. It was accordingly not possible for me to tell the Court what was or was not discussed among the Members of the Committee at the meeting. It was never stated by me that this matter relating to the Palmolein case was not discussed by the Members of the Committee.”
