New Delhi: Amid the campaign by some legal
activists for impeachment of Karnataka Chief Justice P D
Dinakaran, the government today said it was not aware of any
such move.
"I have not heard about it (impeachment). The
government is not aware of anything," Union Law Minister M
Veerappa Moily told reporters here.
He was asked about the move by The Campaign for
Judicial Accountability and Reform (CJAR) and the Forum for
Judicial Accountability (FJA) on Monday to gather signatures
of at least 100 MPs for moving an impeachment motion against
the judge in Parliament.
The 59-year-old judge has been at the centre of a
controversy in the wake of allegations of land grabbing
against him.
Last week, the Law Ministry had rejected the
recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium for Dinakaran's
elevation as a judge of the apex court and sent it back for
reconsideration.
Dinakaran had claimed that reports of the District
Collector of Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu relating to alleged land
grabbing by him were not correct.
Refuting the allegations, Dinakaran had said he would
come out of this episode with his hands clean.
The judge had said his delicate position as Chief
Justice has forced him to observe self-restraint to "counter
and expose" the people behind the campaign which ultimately
would not succeed and "truth will prevail".
The Ministry's decision came after consultation with
the Prime Minister's Office which is understood to have agreed
that the Collegium should have a re-look at Justice
Dinakaran's appointment as an apex court judge.
The CJI had written to the Law Ministry seeking
delinking of the name of Justice Dinakaran from a list of five
High Court Chief Justices recommended for elevation to the
Supreme Court.
While Dinakaran's elevation was kept on hold, the
other four were sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court last
month.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 09, 2009, 18:46