New Delhi:
In an exclusive interview to NDTV's A Vaidyanathan, the Chief Justice of India has explained how a judge now charged with corruption was recommended for promotion to the Supreme Court.
P Dinakaran, currently the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, has been accused acquiring acres of land illegally in Tamil Nadu. Last year, the Supreme Court had recommended Dinakaran along with four other judges for promotion to the Supreme Court.
At that time, Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan says, Dinakaran had not been accused of corruption. "There was no allegation when he was a judge in high court of Madras...or when he was in high court of Karnataka," he said.
Therefore, the Chief Justice claims, the collegium or group of Supreme Court judges that recommended Dinkaran's promotion to the government did not make any mistakes. Balakrishnan also says the Dinakaran episode has not hurt the Supreme Court's image.
After the allegations of corruption surfaced, the collegium dropped his name from its list of judges sent to the government. In December 2009, an impeachment motion was moved against Dinakaran in the Rajya Sabha. A committee is now investigating the charges against him.