SUPREME COURT CANCELS APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF VIGILANCE COMMISSIONER (CVC)
High-Powered Panel Headed by PM Appointed PJ Thomas Despite Pending Criminal Charges in Palmoline Scam
On 3 March 2011, the Supreme Court of India declared the appointment of P.J. Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner (the nation’s top anti-corruption watchdog) as illegal and non-est in law.
Thomas had a pending criminal chargesheet against him in the Kerala Palmoline import scam. Despite opposition leader Sushma Swaraj formally recording her dissent, PM Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P. Chidambaram pushed Thomas's appointment through.
The Apex Court ruled that the selection committee had completely ignored institutional integrity by placing a chargesheeted bureaucrat in charge of supervising corruption probes against the government.
📌 Key Figures & Decision Makers
- ▸ P.J. Thomas
- ▸ Manmohan Singh (Prime Minister)
- ▸ P. Chidambaram
- ▸ Sushma Swaraj (Dissented)
"I accept full responsibility for the decision to appoint the CVC."
- • Supreme Court Judgment in Center for PIL vs Union of India (CVC Case) (2011) 4 SCC 1 (Supreme Court of India, 2011)