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The Bhartiya Janata Party lashed out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday over the selection of Telecom Secretary P J Thomas as the new Central Vigilance Commissioner. The Opposition party claimed that the Centre had appointed Thomas to scuttle the ongoing probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the Rs 60,000 crore spectrum scam.
The BJP urged President Pratibha Patil to cancel the appointment of Thomas, who will be administered the oath of office by her on Tuesday, as he has "not been above suspicion to accept him as a person of impeccable integrity, as desired by the Supreme Court in its 1998 judgment".
Party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi that Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, in her meeting with Dr Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram, had insisted that Thomas cannot be said to possess the 'impeccable integrity' requisite for the post.
Prasad, a senior advocate, read out a relevant part of the Supreme Court judgment which laid down the procedure for the selection of the CVC.