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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | “Institution counts, not candidate”

“Institution counts, not candidate”

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published Published on Mar 3, 2011   modified Modified on Mar 3, 2011

Appointment to the post of Central Vigilance Commissioner “must satisfy not only the eligibility criteria of the candidate but also the decision making process of the recommendation. If a statutory body like the HPC [high power committee], for any reason whatsoever, fails to look into the relevant material having nexus to the object and purpose of the 2003 CVC Act or takes into account irrelevant circumstances, then its decision would stand vitiated on the ground of official arbitrariness,” the Supreme Court said on Thursday.

Giving this ruling, a Bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar set aside the appointment of P.J. Thomas as CVC. He is an accused in the Kerala palmolein import case.

Mr. Thomas was appointed CVC following the recommendation made by the HPC, which was headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The other members were Home Minister P.Chidambaram and leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.

Pointing out that the Central Vigilance Commission was an integrity institution, the Bench said: “The HPC had to take into consideration what is good for the institution, and not what is good for the candidate. When institutional integrity is in question, the touchstone should be the ‘public interest' which has got to be taken into consideration by the HPC and in such cases the HPC may not insist upon proof.”

The Bench said: “We are concerned with the institution and its integrity including institutional competence and functioning, and not the desirability of the candidate alone who is going to be the Central Vigilance Commissioner, though personal integrity is an important quality. It is the independence and impartiality of the institution like CVC which have to be maintained and preserved in the larger interest of the rule of law.”

DoPT notings ignored

In the present case, “the HPC has gone by personal integrity of the officers empanelled and not by institutional integrity. Apart from the pending criminal proceedings, between 2000 and 2004 various notings of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) recommended disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Thomas in the palmolein case. Those notings have not been considered by the HPC.”

The Hindu, 4 March, 2011, http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/04/stories/2011030464691400.htm


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