CVC tells apex court media tarnished his image

NEW DELHI - Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) P.J. Thomas Tuesday told the Supreme Court that media tarnished his image as he did not oblige them by speaking to them amidst the ongoing controversy over his appointment.

“My refusal to speak was treated as if I had no defence to offer,” Thomas told the court while filing his additional affidavit.

Thomas said he was not the only one who was given clean chit by the then Central Vigilance Commission in 2008. Several other bureaucrats were also given clean chit by the anti-corruption watchdog that year, he claimed.

In his affidavit, the CVC said over the past 27 years he has an unblemished record of service, and despite that he is now being damned as a tainted officer.

Thomas filed the affidavit in response to the Supreme Court notice on a petition by the NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation, which ahs challenged his appointment as the CVC on the ground that he was facing charge sheet in the palm oil import case and the Kerala government had sanctioned his prosecution for it.

In his earlier affidavit filed last week, Thomas said he was a victim of being caught in a political crossfire between the then Kerala chief minister K. Karunakaran and the then opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader V.S. Achuthanandan, who is now the chief minister.