P. J. Thomas (Indian administrative officer)
Encyclopedia
Polayil Joseph Thomas is an 1973 batch Indian Administrative Service
officer
from Kerala
cadre. He was appointed as the 14th Chief Vigilance Commissioner of India
, in an appointment that came under Supreme Court's
review and later to be annulled by court as "non-est" in law. The appointment and the subsequent quashing led to several public debates with regard to the eligibility criteria for CVC's appointment, judicial activism
, as well as the role played by mainstream media to hide several key facts that could establish his otherwise unblemished record in the civil services. On the latter, Thomas has requested a CBI probe into the distorted reporting of court proceedings by the mainstream media in India, especially the "adverse and imbalanced campaign" by Times Now
.
district. A brilliant student right from his school days, Thomas is a post-graduate in Physics
and later took his Masters in Economics
. Thomas joined the Indian Administrative Service as one of the toppers in the Civil Services Examination
in the year 1973. His elder brother, Johny Joseph
, is also an IAS officer. As an IAS officer, Thomas has held important assignments in Kerala as the Chief Electoral Officer
of the state, and as Secretary in Finance, Industry, Agriculture, Law and Justice and Human Resource Development Departments. As the chief electoral officer, Thomas was instrumental in introducing electronic voting machine in all stages of election. He was the founder director of the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode. He became the Kerala Chief Secretary
in 2007 and moved to the central government as Secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
in January, 2009. Later he went on to become the Telecom Secretary.
The 3G Spectrum auction
happened when Thomas was the Telecom Secretary and helped the government earn a revenue two times than what analysts predicted. The 3G and broadband spectrums jointly fetched 106,000 crore Indian rupees for the government against its estimates of 35,000 crore. The success of 3G Spectrum was a big boost to the government, when it was bearing the brunt from 2G Spectrum scam
, the auction for which happened before Thomas assumed the office of Telecom Secretary. While in Telecom, Thomas opposition to Devas deal was decisive for the government. Thomas had stressed that the spectrum planned by the Department of Space
is crucial to meeting the strategic requirements of nation and hence it should not be frittered away by giving it to private parties and that too not without following the process of auction to maximise the government revenue. In September 2010, Mr. Thomas succeeded Pratyush Sinha, a 1969-batch IAS officer of Bihar
cadre, as the CVC.
import happened in 1992, when K.Karunakaran was the Chief Minister of Kerala
. In 1991, the state government had decided to import palm oil from Power and Energy Limited, a company based in Singapore
. The price fixed for the import was 405 USD per metric tonne. The oil was imported in 1992, but the opposition, LDF
, raised a stink in the deal, alleging a loss of more than 2 crores to the exchequer, by comparing the import price with the international price of palm oil which was at 392.25 USD per tonne. The role of Thomas, who was then the Secretary of Food and Civil Supplies, was to translate a cabinet decision into a government order and communicating the order to the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation.
In 1996, the LDF
government came to power, and resurrected the matter by causing an FIR to be filed against Karunakaran and six others under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act
. Thomas was not named in the FIR, as he was not involved in the decision making or the fixing of price. Almost a year later, on 8 February 1998, Thomas’ name was added to the FIR as accused no. 8. The state government then approached the Government of India
in November 1999 for sanction to prosecute Thomas for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act alleged against him. The Chief Vigilance Commissioner, however, did not grant the sanction, as the material on record did not disclose any criminal offence by Thomas. The trial court was unable to proceed with the trial of the case for the lack of sanction for the prosecution of Karunakaran, who was then a Member of Parliament
, and other government servants. Following this, the state government filed an appeal to High Court, and High Court allowed the trial without the mandatory sanction for the prosecution of the accused. However, Karunakaran challenged the High Court's decision in Supreme Court, and in 2003, the Supreme Court of India upheld stay in the proceedings of the case. The case was then pending with the Supreme Court for more than a decade until the stay was lifted after Karunakaran's death in 2010. The long stay in this case eventually became detrimental to Thomas, as his appointment to the post of CVC was mired with controversies on whether the pending charge-sheet was discussed by the High Powered Committee. However, a section of the media observed that Thomas is not guilty of any wrong doing, because the LDF government in 2006 would not have otherwise appointed him to the highest post in the state civil service, Chief Secretary to the Government of Kerala.
. The selection of the new CVC was marked by controversies, after Sushma Swaraj, who was part of three-member selection committee, objected to the choice of Thomas, citing the pending charge-sheet in his name. A public interest litigation was filed, and the HPC recommendation came under Supreme Court's
review.
On March 3, 2011, the Supreme Court quashed the appointment of Thomas as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, noting that the HPC did not consider the relevant materials on the pending charge-sheet. Though Thomas resigned after the Court's observation, he has asked the President of India
to seek a review petition
on various grounds, including the constitutionality of the judgment. According to the lawyer for Thomas, Wills Mathews, the three judges' judgment on the CVC is not legally valid because Article 145 (3) says that the minimum number of judges required for interpretation of Constitution is five, which in effect makes the Supreme Court judgement null and void. Thomas also fears whether the court has exercised jurisdiction on an issue in which it was not having the jurisdiction. He states, the Supreme Court has the power to initiate the proceeding for the removal of the CVC, only on a reference made by the President, and as such there was no reference of the President of India in the present matter. Thomas submitted that quashing the appointment resulted in miscarriage of justice not only to Thomas but to all civil servants of the country 'because the mere lodging of an FIR
is sufficient to stop a honest officer from taking charge of the coveted post and shall spoil his career prospects'.
Indian Administrative Service
The Indian Administrative Service is the administrative civil service of the Government of India. It is one of the three All India Services....
officer
Civil Services of India
The Civil Services of India refer to the civil service and the permanent bureaucracy of the Government of India...
from Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
cadre. He was appointed as the 14th Chief Vigilance Commissioner of India
Central Vigilance Commission
Central Vigilance Commission is an apex Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption. It has the status of an autonomous body, free of control from any executive authority, charged with monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government of India, and...
, in an appointment that came under Supreme Court's
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
review and later to be annulled by court as "non-est" in law. The appointment and the subsequent quashing led to several public debates with regard to the eligibility criteria for CVC's appointment, judicial activism
Judicial activism
Judicial activism describes judicial ruling suspected of being based on personal or political considerations rather than on existing law. It is sometimes used as an antonym of judicial restraint. The definition of judicial activism, and which specific decisions are activist, is a controversial...
, as well as the role played by mainstream media to hide several key facts that could establish his otherwise unblemished record in the civil services. On the latter, Thomas has requested a CBI probe into the distorted reporting of court proceedings by the mainstream media in India, especially the "adverse and imbalanced campaign" by Times Now
Times Now
Times Now is a 24-hour English language news channel based in Mumbai and broadcast primarily in the South Asian region. The channel was launched in 2006 as a joint-venture of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., the publishers of The Times of India and Reuters. Arnab Goswami is the Editor-in Chief and...
.
Early life and career
Thomas hails from a middle class family from AlappuzhaAlappuzha
Alappuzha , also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India. As per 2001 census Alleppey is the sixth largest city in Kerala with an urban population of 177,029. Alleppey is situated to the south of Kochi and north of Trivandrum...
district. A brilliant student right from his school days, Thomas is a post-graduate in Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and later took his Masters in Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. Thomas joined the Indian Administrative Service as one of the toppers in the Civil Services Examination
Civil Services Examination
The Civil Services Examination is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to the various Civil Services of the Government of India, including Indian Administrative Service , Indian Foreign Service , Indian Police Service and...
in the year 1973. His elder brother, Johny Joseph
Johny Joseph
Johny Joseph is an Indian Administrative Service officer of 1972 batch. He graduated from Trivandrum Engineering College with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and served as commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation from 29 February 2004 to May 2007.Joseph was the Maharashtra's...
, is also an IAS officer. As an IAS officer, Thomas has held important assignments in Kerala as the Chief Electoral Officer
Chief Electoral Officer
The Chief Electoral Officer is the person responsible for overseeing elections in some commonwealth countries and provinces.Specifically, it may refer to:* Chief Electoral Officer * Chief Electoral Officer...
of the state, and as Secretary in Finance, Industry, Agriculture, Law and Justice and Human Resource Development Departments. As the chief electoral officer, Thomas was instrumental in introducing electronic voting machine in all stages of election. He was the founder director of the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode. He became the Kerala Chief Secretary
Chief Secretary
The Chief Secretary is the title of a senior civil servant in members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, historically, in the British Empire. Prior to the dissolution of the colonies, the Chief Secretary was the second most important official in a colony of the British Empire after the...
in 2007 and moved to the central government as Secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (India)
The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs is an Indian government ministry.It handles affairs relating to the Parliament of India, and works as a link between the two chambers, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha...
in January, 2009. Later he went on to become the Telecom Secretary.
The 3G Spectrum auction
3G Spectrum auction India
The 3G spectrum auction in India began on 9 April 2010. The winners were awarded spectrum in September, and Tata Docomo was the first private operator to launch 3G services in India. The government has earned from the 3G spectrum auction. While the broadband wireless spectrum auction generated a...
happened when Thomas was the Telecom Secretary and helped the government earn a revenue two times than what analysts predicted. The 3G and broadband spectrums jointly fetched 106,000 crore Indian rupees for the government against its estimates of 35,000 crore. The success of 3G Spectrum was a big boost to the government, when it was bearing the brunt from 2G Spectrum scam
2G spectrum scam
The 2G spectrum scandal involved officials in the government of India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones...
, the auction for which happened before Thomas assumed the office of Telecom Secretary. While in Telecom, Thomas opposition to Devas deal was decisive for the government. Thomas had stressed that the spectrum planned by the Department of Space
Department of Space
The Department of Space is an Indian government department responsible for administration of the Indian space program.The Indian Space Research Organization is the primary research and development arm of the DoS...
is crucial to meeting the strategic requirements of nation and hence it should not be frittered away by giving it to private parties and that too not without following the process of auction to maximise the government revenue. In September 2010, Mr. Thomas succeeded Pratyush Sinha, a 1969-batch IAS officer of Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
cadre, as the CVC.
Palmolein Oil Import Scam
The alleged scam of palmolein oilPalm oil
Palm oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are edible plant oils derived from the fruits of palm trees. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis; palm kernel oil is derived from the kernel of the oil palm and coconut oil is derived from the kernel of the...
import happened in 1992, when K.Karunakaran was the Chief Minister of Kerala
Chief Minister of Kerala
The Chief Minister of Kerala is the elected head of government of the state of Kerala, India. By the Constitution of India, the Chief minister is appointed by the Governor of the state....
. In 1991, the state government had decided to import palm oil from Power and Energy Limited, a company based in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. The price fixed for the import was 405 USD per metric tonne. The oil was imported in 1992, but the opposition, LDF
LDF
LDF may mean:* Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin* Left Democratic Front , regional political alliance in Maharashtra, India.* Left Democratic Front , regional political alliance in Kerala, India.* NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund...
, raised a stink in the deal, alleging a loss of more than 2 crores to the exchequer, by comparing the import price with the international price of palm oil which was at 392.25 USD per tonne. The role of Thomas, who was then the Secretary of Food and Civil Supplies, was to translate a cabinet decision into a government order and communicating the order to the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation.
In 1996, the LDF
LDF
LDF may mean:* Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin* Left Democratic Front , regional political alliance in Maharashtra, India.* Left Democratic Front , regional political alliance in Kerala, India.* NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund...
government came to power, and resurrected the matter by causing an FIR to be filed against Karunakaran and six others under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act
Prevention of Corruption Act
Prevention of Corruption Act is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and India relating to corruption and bribery.The Bill for an Act with this short title will have been known as a Prevention of Corruption Bill during its passage through Parliament.Prevention of...
. Thomas was not named in the FIR, as he was not involved in the decision making or the fixing of price. Almost a year later, on 8 February 1998, Thomas’ name was added to the FIR as accused no. 8. The state government then approached the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
in November 1999 for sanction to prosecute Thomas for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act alleged against him. The Chief Vigilance Commissioner, however, did not grant the sanction, as the material on record did not disclose any criminal offence by Thomas. The trial court was unable to proceed with the trial of the case for the lack of sanction for the prosecution of Karunakaran, who was then a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, and other government servants. Following this, the state government filed an appeal to High Court, and High Court allowed the trial without the mandatory sanction for the prosecution of the accused. However, Karunakaran challenged the High Court's decision in Supreme Court, and in 2003, the Supreme Court of India upheld stay in the proceedings of the case. The case was then pending with the Supreme Court for more than a decade until the stay was lifted after Karunakaran's death in 2010. The long stay in this case eventually became detrimental to Thomas, as his appointment to the post of CVC was mired with controversies on whether the pending charge-sheet was discussed by the High Powered Committee. However, a section of the media observed that Thomas is not guilty of any wrong doing, because the LDF government in 2006 would not have otherwise appointed him to the highest post in the state civil service, Chief Secretary to the Government of Kerala.
Appointment as Chief Vigilance Commissioner
P.J. Thomas was appointed as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner in September 2010, by the President of India, on the recommendation of a High Powered Committee (HPC) headed by the Prime Minister of IndiaPrime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
. The selection of the new CVC was marked by controversies, after Sushma Swaraj, who was part of three-member selection committee, objected to the choice of Thomas, citing the pending charge-sheet in his name. A public interest litigation was filed, and the HPC recommendation came under Supreme Court's
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
review.
On March 3, 2011, the Supreme Court quashed the appointment of Thomas as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, noting that the HPC did not consider the relevant materials on the pending charge-sheet. Though Thomas resigned after the Court's observation, he has asked the President of India
President of India
The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...
to seek a review petition
Review petition
In India, a binding decision of the Supreme Court/High Court can be reviewed in Review Petition. The parties aggrieved on any order of the Supreme Court on any apparent error can file a review petition. Taking into consideration the principle of stare decisis, courts generally do not unsettle a...
on various grounds, including the constitutionality of the judgment. According to the lawyer for Thomas, Wills Mathews, the three judges' judgment on the CVC is not legally valid because Article 145 (3) says that the minimum number of judges required for interpretation of Constitution is five, which in effect makes the Supreme Court judgement null and void. Thomas also fears whether the court has exercised jurisdiction on an issue in which it was not having the jurisdiction. He states, the Supreme Court has the power to initiate the proceeding for the removal of the CVC, only on a reference made by the President, and as such there was no reference of the President of India in the present matter. Thomas submitted that quashing the appointment resulted in miscarriage of justice not only to Thomas but to all civil servants of the country 'because the mere lodging of an FIR
FIR
FIR or fir may refer to:*fir, a type of conifer tree*USCGC Fir, either of two buoy tenders of the United States Coast Guard*Fir , free ideal ring -Acronyms:* Falling In Reverse, a post-hardcore band...
is sufficient to stop a honest officer from taking charge of the coveted post and shall spoil his career prospects'.