Govt rejects SC collegium's move to elevate Dinakaran

Ending weeks of uncertainty, Government has rejected the Supreme Court collegium's move to elevate to the apex court Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran in the wake of allegations of land grabbing against him and his family.

Sources in the Law Ministry said that the file recommending the elevation has been returned to the Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan with a request to the collegium to reconsider the decision.

Balakrishnan had written to the Law Ministry seeking delinking of the name of Dinakaran from a list of High Court Chief Justices, recommended for elevation to Supreme Court.

Sources claim that the Law Ministry's decision to return the file came after it found that various probes including those conducted by the Intelligence Bureau and District Collector of Tiruvallur were enough to deny Dinakaran elevation to the Supreme Court.

Government felt that there was no need for any more probe into the issue as requested by the Chief Justice.

A report by Survey of India is yet to be forwarded to the SC Collegium, the sources said.

Dinakaran is facing allegations of land grabbing in Kaverirajapuram in Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu, a charged denied by him.

It is learnt that the Prime Minister's Office had also referred to the law ministry the media campaign on the issue.

Law Minister Veerappa Moily, when contacted for his comments on the development, said: "I would not like to comment on an issue which deals with the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary. It is not appropriate (to say anything)."

The Law Ministry sent its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is understood to have agreed with its perception and wanted the collegium to reconsider its recommendation.

In August this year, the collegium had recommended the name of Dinakaran along with Chief Justices of four other High Courts. While Dinakaran's name was kept on hold while four others were elevated to the Supreme Court recently.