Desperately seeking Thomas

The government says he's resigned following the Supreme Court setting aside his appointment as Central Vigilance Commissioner. His lawyer denies it. But the question is where's PJ Thomas?

Desperately seeking Thomas

The government says he's resigned following the Supreme Court setting aside his appointment as Central Vigilance Commissioner. His lawyer denies it. But the question is where's PJ Thomas?

Security guards at Polayil Joseph Thomas's residence in Gurgaon maintained throughout out the day that 'sahib' had left the house at 6 am Thursday. And Thomas's office - Satarkta Bhawan near INA market - waited for the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) in vain.

Gone with the wind:u00a0 Sources at the CVC's office said that Thomas had
mentioned the 'embarrassment being caused to him' as a reason for
stepping down. File Pic

The interest was created, of course, because of the Supreme Court judgement that quashed his appointment, six months after the Kerala bureaucrat was named as head of the country's anti-corruption watchdog. The apex court set aside the September 3, 2010 recommendation for appointment of Thomas as CVC as 'illegal' since the high-powered committee did not consider the pending chargesheet in the Palmolein import scam. The court said that the committee's recommendation on appointment of Thomas "does not exist in law".

In due time, Law Minister Veerappa Moily issued a statement. He surprised many by virtually conceding that Thomas's appointment was an error on part of the government. However, he went on to exonerate the Prime Minister, while maintaining that Thomas had resigned following the court order. Shortly after this, Thomas's lawyer Wills Mathews rejected this claim. Sources in the CVC said that till Thursday evening they hadn't received any official information on Thomas stepping down. "We just got to know from our inter-department sources that he has put in his papers before the law minister, but we have not received any on record confirmation yet," they said.u00a0

Sources also said that contents of his resignation too remained a mystery and a few maintained that he had put in his papers in a simple manner. But, others said that Thomas had mentioned the 'embarrassment being caused to him' as a reason. No confirmation, however, was available.

Predictably, the streets and lanes outside Thomas's office and residence were more populated than usual, with a huge media presence; everyone trying to catch a glimpse of Thomas, but having to return disappointed. At Thomas's house - Part II, sector 15, LIC Housing Society, Gurgaon - his wife, who is an Executive Director with LIC, left in a car at about 10 am on Thursday without speaking to anyone.

Then in the evening at about 5.30 pm his brother made an appearance and went inside, again without issuing any statements. After no one could locate the biggest newsmaker of the day, rumours started doing the rounds that Thomas, after resigning, had gone to a friend's farmhouse on the outskirts of Delhi. Some even said that he had gone to Kerala and would return on Friday.

Same rules
The government on Thursday said it will soon start the process of selecting a new Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) after it receives the judgment of the Supreme Court which quashed the appointment of PJ Thomas. They said the same committee headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appointed two vigilance commissioners just a week before the appointment of Thomas as CVC. The committee, which also had Home Minister P Chidambaram and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj to select Thomas, went by the material placed before it by the department of personnel and training, they said, adding that the panel will meet again to choose a new CVC.

Yes and no
Making things more interesting, PJ Thomas's counsel Wills Mathews contradicted Law Minister Veerappa Moily, saying that Thomas had not resigned from his post. "It is incorrect. Thomas has not resigned. We have not even received the copy of the judgment. We have to go through the judgment in depth. After
that we will think of the future course of action," Mathews said.

Who's PJ Thomas?
The 1973-batch officer came under scrutiny after he was appointed as the Central Vigilance Commissioner to probe the 2G scam. Firstly, his integrity was questioned on the basis of his infamous campaign for Palmolein edible oil, when he was appointed as the Food Secretary in Kerala. He himself is charged of corruption in the food scam which is one of the oldest graft cases in the country, which is related to the import of 15,000 tonnes of palm oil from a Singapore-based firm, Power and Energy Private Ltd, for distribution through public distribution network in Kerala in 1992. The state was passing through a severe edible oil crunch then. The then UDF government clinched the deal violating the guideline of the state trading corporation. Later, the state vigilance found the state reportedly lost Rs 2.32 crore. P J Thomas was the State Food Secretary when the deal was signed.u00a0 Thomas has worn many hats - from that of District Collector to secretary of various departments. He became Kerala's Chief Electoral Officer (1998-2005). He was elevated to state chief secretary in 2007. He came to deputation on Centre in 2009, as secretary in ministry of parliament affairs. From January 23, 2009 to September 30, 2009 he was the Union Telecom Secretary before he became CVC in August 2010.