Lok Satta Party President Jayaprakash Narayan Welcomes SC's Decision Of Sacking Thomas From The Post Of CVC.
The Lok Satta Party (LSP) on Thursday termed the Supreme Court's judgment of quashing the appointment of P J Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner as a slap in the face of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
Welcoming the historic verdict wholeheartedly, LSP President Jayaprakash Narayan stated at a media conference that the verdict also demonstrated how aberrations in democracy can be corrected in a peaceful and dignified manner, with the intervention of the judiciary. The former IAS officer congratulated former Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngodoh and the Center for Public Interest Litigation, who had put in petitions challenging the appointment.
Party leaders Katari Srinivasa Rao, S Manorama and K Gita Murthy took part in the media conference.
Dr. Narayan recalled that the LSP had opposed Thomas' appointment because he, as a top official in the Telecom Ministry, had opposed a CBI inquiry into 2G spectrum allocations - the biggest scam in India's history - to prevent the facts from coming to light.
The Prime Minister and the Home Minister brushed aside objections raised by a BJP leader, who was the 3rd member in the appointments committee, and went ahead with appointing Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
The LSP chief accused the rulers of weakening the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which was constituted by Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri to deal with corruption. He also welcomed the development that appointments to key posts have come up for judicial scrutiny.
The former bureaucrat said that people who lose faith in governments, legislatures and political parties, look upto the judiciary and other constitutional mechanisms to render them justice. That is why the LSP has been silently striving for the creation of a National Judicial Commission with powers to appoint persons of probity and integrity as judges, and also to dismiss corrupt judges, without any political interference.
However, in the long run, constitutional mechanisms cannot be a substitute for effective functioning of legislatures. Members of the legislatures should view them as supreme institutions for discussing subjects ranging from the demand for a Telangana State to the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal Verdict.
Against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's judgment in the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner, Dr. Narayan has written to Governor E S L Narasimhan, suggesting that he nominate competent people, irrespective of their party affiliation (the Governor has to nominate 4 persons). As per the Constitution, only those known for their social service or for their proficiency in education, science and technology, and literature should be nominated. The Council shall not be converted into a political rehabilitation center, he warned.
Replying to a question, he said that all agitations ultimately adversely affect people. For instance, the non-cooperation movement, being carried out by government employees, hurts people looking for a livelihood under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Movements against 'freedom of expression' guaranteed by the Constitution are nothing but an assault on democracy, the former bureaucrat said.
"I hope that the Union Government cancels the 2G spectrum licenses without waiting for the Supreme Court's decision," he added.
Courtesy: INN