CVC appointment on basis of Kerala govt input, repeats Chavan

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday reiterated his earlier claim that the government of Kerala was to be blamed for PJ Thomas being appointed as the Central Vigilance Commissioner despite being charged in a corruption case.

Making a statement in the Maharashtra Assembly after continued disruptions by the Opposition parties, Chavan said Thomas’ appointment as CVC,later struck down by the Supreme Court, was done on the basis of documents sent by the Government of Kerala.

“Kerala Government had sent the Centre all documents related to the credentials of PJ Thomas in 2008. He was the Chief Secretary of the state earlier and the Department of Personnel and Training took the decision to appoint him as CVC based on the documents received, so there was no question of misleading anybody,” Chavan said.

He said the DoPT had initially recommended three names for the post of CVC, of which, two others had retired, while Thomas was a serving bureaucrat. Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan has already denied Chavan’s claim, when it was made earlier this month. The Kerala CM had said Chavan was lying.

Documents that surfaced at the time, copies of which are in the possession of ET, show correspondence between the state and the DoPT, in which it is clearly mentioned that a vigilance enquiry was ongoing against Thomas. While the CVC issue has died down at the Centre, with the Prime Minister accepting an error of judgment, but blaming Chavan, the minister of state in the PMO at the time, for the fiasco , it has remained a hot topic in Maharashtra.