Can You Install Vinyl Flooring Over Carpet Padding

Carpet removal from house of humble blog.
Can you install vinyl flooring over carpet padding. You absolutely cannot use carpet underlayment underneath laminate flooring. Vinyl planks vinyl planks are designed to resemble hardwood and can be found in a number of wood look textures such as hand scraped wirebrushed and distressed. One of the contractors i was speaking with about replacing carpet asked me if i wanted to have the flooring installed on top of the carpet pad. I thought it strange but he said that he worked on an apartment complex and they did just that on about 10 units.
Has any of you heard of putting vinyl plank flooring on top of the carpet padding. Just like ceramic tile linoleum needs to be installed on a flat surface that will bond with the adhesive used in installation such as plywood or cement but not carpet or carpet padding.