Was Manmohan misled or allowed to be misled, asks BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday used Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s quote of Caesar’s wife being above suspicion to demand that he “introspect” and inform the nation whether he was “misled or allowed himself to be misled” on P.J. Thomas’s appointment as Central Vigilance Commissioner.

“Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj has vindicated herself by expressing dissent (on Thomas’s appointment). The responsibility lies with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. The PM should introspect on whether he was misled or allowed himself to be misled,” senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said.

The selection panel for choosing the CVC comprises the Prime Minister, Home Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. During the meeting to choose Mr. Thomas, when Ms. Swaraj said Mr. Thomas had a case pending against him in the Palmolein import scam, Home Minister P. Chidambaram had reportedly told her that he had been cleared in the matter.

After the Supreme Court judgement, Mr. Jaitley said the person occupying the CVC post should have a “spotless record“.

“The appointment of Thomas was vitiated due to non-application of mind,” he added.

The Prime Minister is expected to make a statement in Parliament on the issue. BJP sources said the party is waiting for Dr. Singh’s statement before it responds further.

The BJP, which in the recent past never lost any opportunity to demand the Dr. Singh’s resignation, on Thursday refrained from it.

“The PM often says Ceasar’s wife must be above suspicion. Now that Supreme Court has quashed the appointment of CVC on the ground that relevant information relating to his involvement in a corruption case was ignored, the country is certainly entitled to know on what benchmark he is going to judge himself,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The BJP alleged that the United Progressive Alliance government wanted a “pliant” CVC as the 2G scam is under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the CVC exercises a decisive influence and monitoring over the investigating agency. After on Thursday’s verdict the government stands “indicted”, the party said.

“The appointment of CVC was done by this government in which the Prime Minister has a direct role to play. The country is entitled to know as to what was the coalition compulsion behind the appointment of Thomas,” Mr. Prasad said, referring to recent statement of Dr. Singh on why A. Raja was given the Telecom Ministry.

Welcoming the Supreme Court judgement, the BJP said it has restored the dignity of the office of CVC and upheld the “rule of law and democratic propriety“.

“Integrity and independence are the most important qualities for appointment to the post of CVC. Integrity particularly is indeed very significant because the CVC is the most important institution in monitoring and inquiry into cases of corruption,” Mr. Prasad said.