Chargesheet is not a stigma: AG on CVC case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court came down heavily on the Central Government once again on the appointment of PJ Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). The apex court asked the Central Government if the service file of Thomas was taken into account along with his biodata before deciding on appointing him as the CVC.

The court slammed the Government after Attorney General GE Vahanvati told the bench that a chargesheet is not a stigma against an officer.

The court also called for the then CVC's file which had given clearance for the appointment of Thomas as the secretary after the Attorney General told the court that after a bureaucrat has been given cleared by the vigilance department for appointment as secretary, no further clearance was required for empanelment for appointment as CVC.

"Once a person is appointed as secretary on clearance by CVC, he can be considered for empanelment and no further inquiry is required," Vahanvati submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia.

Vahanvati also said that there is no standard procedure and guideline for the appointment of CVC.

He made the submission while responding to various questions by the bench, which also sought his view on the criteria of impeccable integrity required for appointment as CVC.

"Impeccable integrity is an important requirement," Vahanvati said, responding to queries from the bench.

But as the bench asked, "Does it apply to all cases where there is a stigma of chargesheet", the Attorney General said, "This is a grey area."

During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the Centre for Public Interest litigation, which has moved the court challenging appointment of Thomas as CVC, said various factors about the palmolein import case were not before the CVC when it gave vigilance clearance to Thomas.

The CVC had not taken into account the chargesheet pending against him, he claimed, adding the issue of sanction for his prosecution by the state government was not brought before the anti-corruption watchdog.

(With inputs from PTI)