New Delhi, December 14
In a significant step, 76 members of the Rajya Sabha, belonging to different Opposition parties, have submitted a petition to Chairman Hamid Ansari seeking impeachment of Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court PD Dinakaran while citing serious allegations of corruption, land grabbing and misuse of position against him.
The voluminous document was jointly submitted to the Chairman this afternoon by Leader of the Opposition, Arun Jaitley (BJP), Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat (CPM), D Raja (CPI), Shivanand Tiwari (JD-U), Amar Singh (Samajwadi Party) and Naresh Gujral, among others. Significantly, the petition was also signed by Malaiswamy of the AIADMK, a party which had so far refrained from taking a stand on the Dianakaran issue. The Telugu Desam, Akali Dal, Asom Gana Parishad and the Biju Janata Dal are among the other parties which have associated themselves with the move. The Congress party or any of the constituent of the UPA has not signed the petition.
A statement from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat said a notice of the motion, signed by 75 members under the Judges (Enquiry) Act, 1968, for removal of
Justice Dinakaran was presented to the Chairman. The matter was being examined as per the provisions of the Act and the rules framed under it, the statement added.
As per the constitutional provision, the Chairman is now required to constitute a committee of three eminent persons -- a sitting Supreme Court judge, a high court chief justice and a jurist -- to inquire into the charges levelled against Justice Dinakaran and submit a report to the House.
If the committee finds the judge guilty and recommends his removal, the matter will be taken up for voting in Parliament where the motion has to be approved by a two-thirds majority of each House.
At the BJP’s regular press briefing, senior party leader SS Ahluwalia released excerpts of the petition in which the members of the Upper House have urged the Chairman ‘‘that an address be presented to the President for the removal of Justice Dinakaran, from the office of the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court for his acts of misbehaviour”.
It went on to narrate the allegation against Justice Dinakaran. The allegations included: possessing wealth disproportionate to known sources of income, unlawfully securing housing board plots, entering into benami transactions, acquiring and possessing agricultural holdings, illegal encroachment on government and public property, violation of the human rights of Dalits and the poor and destruction of evidence during official enquiry.
Meanwhile, the Congress, hiding behind legalities, tried to discreetly stay out of the Dinakaran controversy. The ruling party refused to make any commitment on the move to impeach the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice and, in fact, sounded almost disapproving of the move. The party said it was not proper to air opinion on a matter that was still under the consideration of the apex court.
“Supreme Court collegium is looking into the matter. Till the time they take a decision on it, it is not proper to air opinion on the issue,” party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad said when asked why Congress MPs had not endorsed the impeachment petition against Dinakaran.
The government too attempted to steer clear of the issue with Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily saying: “We have not seen the petition.”
Earlier during the day in the Rajya Sabha, the Law Minister said during question time that the government would bring forward the Judges Standard and Accountability Bill possibly on the last day of the current session of Parliament to replace the Judges Inquiry Act so as to ensure that no person with shady character could become a judge of the high court or the Supreme Court.
