Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has virtually given a clean chit to Vigilance director Jacob Thomas saying that the government will not give in to the attempts being made by some forces to oust the officer. Mr Vijayan was replying to a submission by Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala in the Assembly on Friday on the letter submitted by additional chief secretary K.M. Abraham against Mr Thomas. He also denied the allegations levelled by Mr Chennithala that the administration had come to a standstill.
Mr Vijayan’s remarks came in the backdrop of the searches conducted by the Vigilance at the residence and office of additional chief secretary Tom Jose in an alleged disproportionate assets case. “Mr Thomas is an official fit for the post of the Vigilance director. The government does not feel that he has done something unbecoming of his position,” Mr Vijayan said. He also questioned the recent CBI statement in the High Court that it was ready to probe the complaint that Mr Thomas had taken up a private teaching job and received financial benefits while on leave.
The forces that did not want Mr Thomas to remain in the post were suspected to be behind this, he said and added that there was nothing wrong in advocate-general C.P. Sudhakara Prasad appearing for Mr Thomas in the court in the case submitted by the CBI. In view of the complaints arising against senior officials, a new system would be introduced to find out the veracity of the complaints. The Vigilance would start a quick verification on the complaints only after that, he said. Mr Chennithala alleged that the administration had failed in the state due to the fight between top bureaucrats.
