New Delhi:
Judges are coming together to block the promotion of one of their own to the Supreme Court.
The man at the centre of the storm is P D Dinakaran, the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court. Dinakaran is among five judges recommended for the Supreme Court by the Chief Justice of India. But some of the country's most senior lawyers, including Fali Nariman and Shanti Bhushan, say Dinakaran must explain allegations of disproportionate wealth. "How did the money come? All this requires investigation," says Shanti Bhushan.
The controversy began with a written complaint to the Supreme Court collegium (the Chief Justice of India and four other judges) by the Forum of Judicial Accountability, a forum of some of the best-respected names in law. The complaint accused Justice Dinakaran of amassing huge assets, including 550 acres of land in Tamil Nadu. This violates the Tamil Nadu Land Ceiling Act, which allows a family of five to own a maximum of 15 acres of land.
Justice Dinakaran was summoned to Delhi by the Chief Justice of India where he denied these allegations. So, what happens now to Dinakaran?
The file on Dinakaran's promotion is currently with the Union Law Ministry; it will go to the Prime Minister for his consent before reaching the President for her approval. But under the law, even if the government wants to stop Justice Dinakaran from becoming a Supreme Court Judge, it can't do much.
Only the collegium, the panel of senior judges, can decide whether a Judge should be kept out or acted against. They will meet on Friday to discuss the charges against Dinakaran.
And many in the fraternity say the larger issue is this: can and should judges judge their own?