India's Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the appointment of the country's top anti-graft official for involvement in a palm oil import case, in another rebuke for the Congress-led coalition government. The rejection of P.J. Thomas's appointment as central vigilance commissioner comes as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government is trying to defend itself against a series of graft scandals including a $39 billion telecoms licensing scam.
The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, seeking to pile the pressure on its rival ahead of state assembly elections in April and May, said Singh owed an explanation to the nation for nominating an official facing allegations of wrongdoing to lead the fight against graft.
"It is a rebuke to the prime minister and the home minister. Governance with transparency and accountability has completely been lost," said BJP spokesman Nirmala Sitharaman. The raft of corruption cases, which span irregularities in telecoms licensing to a housing scam for war widows, has undermined investor confidence and weakened the ability of the government to push economic reforms. Regulatory concerns in Asia's third largest economy, combined with the global economic slowdown, have hit foreign direct investment and contributed to making the Mumbai stock exchange the worst performing of the world's major share markets.
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