March 7: The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, during his statement on the appointment of Mr P.J. Thomas as the CVC in the Lok Sabha on Monday, said he accepted “full responsibility” for the choice of Mr Thomas and described it as an “error of judgment”.
The PM told the House soon after Question Hour, “I have no hesitation in repeating what I said in Jammu. Obviously there’s been an error of judgment and I take full responsibility.” The appointment of Mr Thomas as the CVC was quashed by the Supreme Court last week, causing the government huge embarrassment.
The PM’s remarks came soon his brief statement on the issue around 12 noon on Monday. A clearly dissatisfied Leader of the Opposition, Ms Sushma Swaraj, stood up to tell the PM that she had expected him to say what he had said on the appointment during his recent visit to Jammu where he had owned responsibility. Expressing hairaani (surprise) at the PM’s statement, Ms Swaraj said his statement was different from the one he had made in Jammu. At this, the PM promptly stood up to say he owned responsibility.
Prior to this, in the bland written statement the PM read out, he had said: “We accept and respect the verdict of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The government will take into consideration the guidelines/directions given by the court while appointing the new CVC.”