PM must explain Thomas appointment in parliament: Yechury

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has to explain in parliament the appointment of PJ Thomas as central vigilance commissioner (CVC), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said Thursday after the Supreme Court ruled that the bureaucrat could not continue in office.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has to explain in parliament the appointment of PJ Thomas as central vigilance commissioner (CVC), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said Thursday after the Supreme Court ruled that the bureaucrat could not continue in office.

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"The prime minister needs to answer in parliament how they went ahead despite all the facts known to everybody...even the leader of opposition (Sushma Swaraj) objected to that. They have to answer. He needs to explain..." said Yechury, adding that he was going to raise the issue in parliament.

Yechury, a Rajya Sabha MP, said Thomas' appointment should not have taken place and the apex court has vindicated what he had said earlier.

The apex court said the appointment made by the high-powered committee, consisting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj does not exist in law.

The apex court gave its verdict on a petition by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) challenging Thomas' appointment.

The petitioner had said that Thomas was facing a criminal chargesheet in a case related to palm oil import in Kerala and he was not an "outstanding civil servant of impeccable integrity".