New Delhi, March 8: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said in reply to a question in Parliament that P.J. Thomas was shortlisted for the post of chief vigilance commissioner through the “normal channel, with the approval of the minister of state, department of personnel and training”.

In reply to another question, he said: “The honest answer is that the note prepared by the DoPT and by the minister of state, DoPT, did not contain this information about the chargesheet (against Thomas in an old case relating to irregularities in palmolein oil import by the Kerala government).” Prithviraj Chavan, now the chief minister of Maharashtra, was the minister of state for personnel when the shortlist of three names was drawn up. The replies came in answer to questions that Arun Jaitley, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, asked after the Prime Minister made a statement on the circumstances leading to Thomas being chosen.

Singh’s statement was on the lines of that he made in the Lok Sabha yesterday, except that he did not wait for the Opposition to ask him to own full responsibility.

In reply to Jaitley’s question whether the government intended fixing accountability for the invalidated appointment, the Prime Minister said that as the minister in charge of the department of personnel, he accepted “full responsibility” and “accountability” for Thomas’s selection.

But Jaitley wanted to know if the Prime Minister knew of the chargesheet against Thomas, who had drawn up the shortlist — the department of personnel, the PMO or the department of personnel “under somebody’s suggestion in the PMO” — and why Thomas was chosen despite Sushma Swaraj’s objections.

The Prime Minister said he became aware of the chargesheet when Swaraj, who was on the selection committee with him and home minister P. Chidambaram, raised it in a meeting.

Explaining why he still went ahead with Thomas, Singh said: “Since the gentleman was appointed chief secretary, government of Kerala, and that he was appointed as secretary to two departments of the government of India, I thought matters must have been looked into and, therefore, we went ahead with the selection process.”

In Pune, Chavan today said due procedure was followed in recommending names for the post, adds PTI. “The department of personnel and training had suggested three names — two retired officers and one serving — for the post. One of them was chief secretary in a state to be brought to Delhi. Vigilance clearance is done by the state,” he said.

Responding to Singh’s statement in the Rajya Sabha, Chavan said: “What the Prime Minister has said is correct. He himself doesn’t go and see. Whatever biodata were placed before him by the department, he decided on its basis. He chose one of the names recommended by the department of personnel and training. That’s a fact.”

Other than Jaitley, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury and CPI’s D. Raja also sought clarifications.

Jaitley later told journalists the BJP was “unhappy” with the Prime Minister’s reply. “By putting himself in front, he is shielding someone who is so powerful that he did not tell the PM that he (Thomas) is chargesheeted. And yet the PM is not willing to name him.”