Govt not aware of any move to impeach Dinakaran: Moily
Press Trust of India / New Delhi Dec 09, 2009, 16:55 IST
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.
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