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PM knew of pending case against Thomas even in 2008

February 02, 2011 2:21:17 AM

PNS | New Delhi

The Vigilance status report prepared by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on October 17, 2008, when CVC PJ Thomas had to be empanelled into the Union Government, had a favourable note made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the pending palmolein case against the officer, indicating that Singh had knowledge of the pending case against Thomas.



While denying the Left-led Kerala Government’s request in 2006 to take back the earlier proposal mooted by the Congress Government in 2005 to withdraw sanction against Thomas, the Prime Minister had noted that in view of the fact that there were no disciplinary proceedings in the case, the request of the State Government regarding withdrawal of sanction for prosecution was noted. “No further action is required at this stage by the Government of India,” the Department of Personnel and Training report stated.



A three-member selection committee — headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and comprising Home Minister P Chidambaram and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj — recommended the name of Thomas as the CVC on September 3 last year. The Leader of the Opposition had dissented, citing the pending case against Thomas as the reason for her dissent. The Centre has lately claimed that the palmolein case fact was not placed before the committee.