New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed
Sikkim High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran's plea for
restraining the Campaign for Judicial Accountability(CJA)
from participating in the inquiry by a Rajya Sabha-appointed
panel into his alleged corrupt practices and misconduct.
"The petition is dismissed," a bench of Justices G S
Singhvi and C K Prasad said in a terse order after hearing
Dinakaran's counsel for over half an hour at a special
hearing.
Senior counsel Amarender Sharan and Ashok Bhan,
appearing for Dinakaran, submitted before the bench that the
CJA had no locus standi and should not be allowed to lead
evidence or particpate in the inquiry.
The counsel cited two apex court judgements to claim
that third parties have no right of participation nor shall
they be allowed to participate in impeachment proceedings.
The CJA had been in the forefront seeking removal of
Dinakaran for his alleged corrupt practices.
On July 5, the bench had castigated Dinakaran for
adopting delaying tactics and rejected his plea to invalidate
the inquiry.
The bench had, however, asked the Rajya Sabha chairman
and Vice President Hamid Ansari to replace one of the three
members of the panel senior advocate P P Rao after Dinakaran
accused him of bias.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, July 19, 2011, 19:56