Government runs out of alibis over Thomas

The appointment of tainted chief vigilance commissioner, PJ Thomas, seems likely to snowball into a major issue and a blow for the ruling Congress-led UPA government.

The government has sought to wash its hands off the affair, pleading ignorance of the corruption case against Thomas in the Supreme Court.

The revelation was made by attorney general G E Vahanvati before a bench headed by chief justice S H Kapadia when the bench asked whether the government was aware of the case pending against him.

"It was not before the committee. The material pertaining to the sanction for prosecution under section 120B of the Indian Penal Code was not before the committee. The bio-data did not reflect this aspect before the committee," G E Vahanvati said.

Thomas was indicted in the palmolein scam during an earlier posting as food and civil supplies secretary in Kerala.

The government will now come under increased pressure from the opposition on its stand on the controversial appointment. The apex court is distressed with conduct of the government in the matter. Meanwhile, opposition leader  Sushma Swaraj filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court on the CVC appointment yesterday.