Thiruvananthapuram: Expressing concern
over the "smear campaign" against controversial Chief
Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas, Kerala IAS officers on Thursday
backed him, saying he was a person of "impeccable integrity".
The Association of Kerala IAS officers said there was
no reason to doubt the honesty of Thomas, who has come in for
stinging remarks from the Supreme Court on his capacity to
supervise the CBI probe into the 2G Spectrum scam.
"Many of us had worked with him and there was no
occasion to doubt his honesty and integrity. We express our
serious concern over the smear campaign against him," the
Association said in a statement.
A Kerala cadre officer, Thomas had served as chief
secretary in 2008 before going on deputation to the Centre.
His appointment as CVC ran into controversy as he
figured as one of the accused in the palmolein import case
pertaining to the period when he was food secretary in early
1990s during the Congress-led UDF rule headed by K
Karunakaran.
The appointment of Thomas, whose name still figures in
the charge sheet relating to import of palmolein, had come in
for stiff resistance from the opposition BJP leader Sushma
Swaraj who had given a dissent note.
Thomas today said in Delhi his conscience is clear and
he will continue in the post.
PTI
