New Delhi, March 3 (IANS) With the Supreme Court striking down the appointment of P.J. Thomas as the chief vigilance commissioner (CVC), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday demanded the government explain in parliament how and why he was appointed.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley raised the issue in the upper house, saying that the apex court has passed "serious strictures against the government".

Outside, he said that the prime minister should answer to the nation whether he was misled (by his officials) or chose to mislead by ignoring the charges against Thomas.

Jaitley's counterpart in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, had pointed out that Thomas faced a case related to palm oil import in Kerala but she was overruled by the prime minister during the process for the CVC's selection.

Swaraj, who was a member of the panel that selected the CVC, recorded her disapproval on picking Thomas for the post.

The prime minister and Home Minister P. Chidambaram were the other two members of the CVC selection panel which met in September last year.

Other BJP MPs also spoke against the government's decision. "Would the PM own up his accountability," party MP Ravi Shankar Prasad asked.

Another party MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy said it was the biggest blow to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

"It is the biggest blow to the UPA government, to Manmohan Singh (and) to (Congress chief) Sonia Gandhi," Rudy said.