Thomas to challenge Supreme Court order, will file review petition

Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has dubbed his appointment as an “error of judgment”, former chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) P J Thomas has decided to challenge the Supreme Court order that scrapped his appointment as the country’s top corruption watchdog.

Thomas has decided to file a review petition in the apex court next week, his counsel said on Saturday. He will demand that the case pertaining to his appointment and subsequent disapproval of the court be heard by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court. His appointment as the CVC was quashed by a three-judge bench.

According to Thomas’ petition before the court, the March 3 judgment (that struck down his appointment) is incorrect. He argued that the judiciary has no right to decide his eligibility for the post without prior reference from the President. A review petition has to be filed within 30 days of the judgment.

Thomas has submitted that the apex court should not have quashed his appointment without first allowing him to establish his innocence or otherwise in the Palmolein case. "The Supreme Court has the power to initiate the proceeding for the removal of CVC, only on a reference made to by the president... This point requires further research and we are studying this issue. In case the court exercised the power which it was not having, it is a void abinitio matter.

"The case relates to a matter on the basic structure of the Constitution. The most crucial aspect of this case is to involve at least five judges in this case," Wills Mathew, counsel for the former CVC said today.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had struck down Thomas' controversial appointment as the CVC on the ground that a pending corruption case against him was ignored during the selection process.

As the political pressure increased, the UPA government had decided not to challenge the Supreme Court order quashing the CVC appointment. In the Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took full responsibility of the episode and dubbed the appointment as an error of judgment. But a determined Thomas, who had earlier served the central government in telecom ministry and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, will seek a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court to hear his petition.