Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore (SP)
Bangalore, Sep 18: Bangalore Advocate's Association that met on Wednesday September 17, passed an unanimous resolution, asking the state High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, who is set to be elevated as the Supreme Court judge, not to take part the court proceedings or hold hearings till the allegations levelled against him are cleared.
As there are allegations that he has meted out injustices to a number of advocates, those lawyers who have become victims of such acts, were asked to come up with the details thereof, in writing. It was decided to pool all such allegations and forward the same to the Supreme Court Chief Justice, Prime Minister and the President of India. The advocates decided to meet again later to decide future course of action, if Justice Dinakaran defies their decision and takes part in the High Court proceedings.
The Association also felt that all the judges of the High Court should declare the details of their assets, on the lines of Justice Shylendra Kumar.
At the meeting convened by the Association to discuss about Justice Dinakaran, 26 lawyers levelled a series of allegations against him. The lawyers concurred what the lawyers said at the meeting. However, four senior lawyers felt that convening of the meeting even before the Supreme Court came out with its verdict on the allegations was not right. However, they were silenced by the mighty majority.
Senior advocate Pramila Nesargi alleged that the Chief Justice had personally called the Chief Minister relating to a mining case and ensured that two government lawyers resigned from their posts. "In this case, the Dharwad Circuit Bench had stayed the operation of the High Court order that had stayed mining operations. Justice Dinakaran had instructed government lawyers Dinesh and Patil to file a petition, seeking to vacate this stay. When the lawyers said that they would not do so unless instructed by the government, Justice Dinakaran called the Chief Minister and made sure that the lawyers concerned resigned from their posts," she explained.
The Supreme Court Collegium is set to meet on Friday September 18 evening, to decide on the professional future of Justice P D Dinakaran, against whom Bar Associations of the Supreme court, Delhi High Court and Bangalore Advocates Association have upped their ante. The collegium, headed by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, K G Balakrishnan, comprises of senior judges, Justice B N Aggarwal, Justice S H Kapadia, Justice Tarun Chatterjee and Justice Kabir as its members.
It may be recalled that Justice P D Dinakaran has negated the charges of amassing wealth levelled against him, and said that those who have levelled these allegations have not provided any evidences. He has pointed out that he has not acquired any additional landed property after becoming a judge and that he belongs to a rich agricultural family and therefore, owns some landed property.