The Supreme Court on Tuesday virtually questioned the tenability of Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas supervising the Central Bureau of Investigation's probe into the 2G spectrum scandal as he himself was Telecom Seceratary at the relevant point of time.
A bench of justices G S Singhvi and Ashok Kumar Ganguly pointed out that since the CBI functions under the over all supervision of the CVC it would be difficult for Thomas to objectively monitor the investigations.
"CBI is functioning under the CVC, at that time. He (Thomas) was functioning as Telecom Secretary. It would be difficult for him to objectively monitor."
"He had justified the action which are being subject to scrutiny by this court and CBI. It would be difficult for him to objectively supervise," the bench observed.
Meanwhile, demanding that P J Thomas be sacked, Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said he should not be provided with an "escape route" by allowing him to resign in the wake of observations made by the Supreme Court against him.
"He should be sacked. He should not be given an escape route by allowing him to resign," BJP Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia told mediapersons.
He was asked to comment on media reports that Thomas has been asked to resign. "Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj had given her dissent note but the Prime Minister and the Home Minister insisted on appointing him...he is named in the chargesheet as an accused in a 10-year-old case in Kerala," he said.
He claimed that while government had claimed that Thomas was not an accused, a RTI reply revealed that his name is still in the chargesheet.
The Supreme Court had last week raised questions about Thomas' controversial appointment as CVC despite his name figuring as an accused in a criminal case. His name figures in the chargesheet filed in a palmoleine export case.