Speculation is rife that CVC P.J. Thomas may resign as early as Saturday even as he faces the dilemma of quitting on his own or landing the government in an embarrassing position when the Supreme Court hearing in the case challenging his appointment comes up on Monday. Government sources said that if Mr Thomas resigns, he will “lose all immunity’’, which he enjoys now by virtue of being a government official, in the Palmolein import case pending against him in Kerala.
Currently, the request for prosecution of sanction of Mr Thomas in the Palmolein case is pending with the department of personnel and training.
A senior government official said that once Thomas resigns, he will be a private citizen and his case would be open for trial as it would no longer require a sanction.
The government, meanwhile, finds itself in a spot because any move now, to formally deny the sanction for prosecution pending against the CVC for the last ten years, will generate a political storm with the BJP already up in arms against his appointment.
The CVC has been maintaining that there was no corruption charge against him.
Sources, however, have indicated that though the CVC may be digging in his heels by saying that he has not been asked to resign and the government clearly defending his ‘’clean ima-ge’’, there may be little option left for him but to quit on his own to avoid giving the government more embarrassing moments in court.
The sources said that if Mr Thomas does not resign on his own, the government will need to brace itself for the court proceedings.
Government sources said that it was only a question of time before he sends his resignation to President Pratibha Patil, who was his appointing authority.
Mr Thomas’ name figures in a chargesheet related to the alleged scam of importing Palmolein in Kerala in 1991 and the Supreme Court questioned how he would function in as CVC in view of a pending criminal case against him. 60-year-old Thomas, who was Telecom Secretary till recently, was appointed to the CVC’s post by a three-member panel headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.