Mr. P. J. Thomas has been appointed as the new Central Vigilance Commssioner. He was administered the oath of office at a simple ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening. The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah and Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar were among those present at the swearing-in ceremony.Former Telecom Secretary , Mr Thomas held the post of the Chief Secretary in Kerela in 2007. He is credited with 3G auction which created a bench mark in the country.The name of Mr Thomas was cleared by a selection committee comprising the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister. Earlier BJP leader Mrs Sushma Swaraj had given a dissent note on the selection of Mr Thomas. The BJP also boycotted the swearing in ceremony.However, the Prime Minister on Monday defended the appointment. He told a group of editors that Mr Thomas was best candidate out of the list of three had been chosen.