Click to play videoNew Delhi: Supreme Court Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan has defended Justice P D Dinakaran, the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, who is facing an impeachment proceeding for alleged corruption.
Balakrishnan, the country’s highest judge, refused to comment on the impeachment proceeding against Dinakaran but said the allegations were made after he was recommended for “elevation” to the Supreme Court.
“All these allegations have been raised when his name was suggested to be elevated,” said Balakrishnan in an interview to CNN-IBN’s Bhupendra Chaubey.
Balakrishnan was asked in the interview if he believed if the impeachment proceeding in Parliament was a campaign to “vilify” Justice Dinakaran, who has denied the allegations against him.
Balakrishnan refused to comment. “It (the matter against Dinakaran) has now gone to impeachment proceedings. I don't want to talk anything about the integrity or anything--he has to defend himself.”
Balakrishnan though wondered why the allegations against Dinakaran were not made earlier in his career. “I can say one thing: there was not a single allegation when he was a judge of the Madras High Court; there was not a single allegation when--you will see that when be became Chief Justice of High Court of Karnataka in August 2008. Till his name was recommended by the Supreme Court collegium for elevation there was not a single allegation. Not a member of the bar raised any objection, nothing.”
“All these allegations have been raised when his name was suggested to be elevated,” he said.
Balakrishnan rejected media reports that he was opposed to demands that the office of the Chief Justice of India should be brought under the purview of the Right to Information Act.
“There is lot of misinformation about this--the media thinks I am against Right to Information. It is not like that,” he said.
Balakrishnan laughed off a controversy created by a newspaper report that he had sought allowance for his wife when she accompanied him on an official visit abroad.
“Spouses of judges are continuously for several years to my knowledge dearness allowance was paid, because somebody who goes abroad has to eat something. It is permissible under the rules,” he said.
Rajya Sabha members of Opposition parties in December submitted a petition to House Chairman Hamid Ansari for impeaching Dinakaran, who is accused of land-grabbing and amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income.
Dinakaran’s promotion to the Supreme Court has been put on hold and he has not been hearing cases in the Karnataka High Court.
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