New Delhi, November 1
Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan today confirmed that Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran, who is in the eye of a storm over allegations of corruption, is not being considered for elevation to the Supreme Court along with four others, including Chief Justice TS
Thakur of Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The SC collegium, which makes the recommendations for promotion of judges to the apex court, has asked the government to delink Justice Dinakaran and process the cases of Justice
Thakur and three other CJs, the CJI told reporters.
The three other CJs who are in contention for elevation to SC are AK Patnaik of Madhya Pradesh HC, SS Nijjar of Calcutta HC and KS Radhakrishnan of Gujarat HC.
The SC collegium had recommended five CJs for elevation as far back in September, but the move was stalled following allegations of land encroachment against Justice Dinakaran.
The Bar Association of Tamil Nadu, where Justice Dinakaran was a HC Judge earlier, had initially objected to the proposed elevation of the CJ. Subsequently, prominent SC lawyers, including Fali S Nariman and Shanti Bhushan, had called on the CJI
and Law Minister M Veerappa Moily demanding a probe into the allegations.
The eminent advocates had also written to President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging them to withhold the elevation of Justice Dinakaran, pending the outcome of the inquiry.
Subsequently, the collegium had sought a report of a Tamil Nadu Collector concerned on the land grab allegations. The Collector had confirmed in his report that Justice Dinakaran owned 197 acres of land, much of which was encroached.
Moily has consistently sought to stay away from the controversy, stating that he could not enter into a public or media debate on an issue which is under the active consideration of constitutional functionaries responsible for the appointment of judges to the
higher judiciary.
The CJI’s announcement to the media on the sidelines of a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) function has set at rest all speculation over the appointment of Justice Dinakaran as an SC judge despite the allegations.
