New Delhi: The three-member judicial panel
headed by Supreme Court Judge V S Sirpurkar, which is going
into the issue of impeachment of Karnataka chief justice P D
Dinakaran, has undergone a change.
Justice J S Khehar, Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High
Court has now replaced Justice A R Dave, Chief Justice of
Andhra Pradesh High Court as he has been elevated to the
Supreme Court.
Noted jurist P P Rao is the third member of the
Committee, which has been constituted by Rajya Sabha chairman
Hamid Ansari in January this year in the wake of 75 opposition
members in the Rajya Sabha seeking Justice Dinakaran`s removal
over land-grabbing allegations.
The committee constituted under the Judges (Inquiry) Act
1968 would "make an investigation into the grounds on which
the removal of Mr Justice Paul Daniel Dinakaran Premkumar,
Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court is prayed for."
A Rajya Sabha notification announced the re-constitution
of the Committee.
Under the Constitution, judges of the Supreme Court and
High Courts can be removed only through impeachment in
Parliament.
Allegations listed in the impeachment motion against
Justice Dinakaran include possessing wealth disproportionate
to known sources of income, unlawfully securing five housing
board plots in the name of his wife and two daughters,
entering into benami transactions, and acquiring and
possessing agricultural holdings beyond ceiling limit.
Justice Dinakaran has refuted the allegations.
A three-member Committee is already going into the issue
of impeachment of Calcutta High Court judge Soumitra Sen over
alleged judicial misconduct. The committee has now been given
extension till August.
PTI
