Noting that the new Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) was swearing in later in the day,the Delhi High Court on Thursday declined to give urgent hearing to the plea of former CVC P J Thomas that his appeal,pending with the President against his dismissal,be decided before his successor Pradeep Kumar is appointed. The Division Bench of Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice Siddharth Mridul held that hearing the petition and passing any directive on the day when the new CVC was scheduled to be sworn in could only complicate the matter further. What do you (Thomass counsel) expect us to do now? The man (new CVC) is taking oath today. Anything would only complicate the matter and we cannot allow that. Irrespective of whatever,he will be taking oath today. We cannot pass any order at this juncture,said the bench. No compromise in fighting corruption Newly-appointed CVC Pradeep Kumar asserted that there would be no compromise in fighting corruption and warned people to refrain from witch hunt to settle personal scores. Terming corruption a disease,Kumar said,Corruption is not a monopoly either of higher echelon or lower echelon. He declined to comment on his predecessor P J Thomas,whose appointment was quashed by the Supreme Court citing a pending chargesheet in a corruption case against him in Kerala.
