Daijiworld Media Network – Mysore (SP)

Mysore, Dec 24: Leading criminal lawyer and politician, Ram Jethmalani, said that he could have surely committed suicide, if he was in the shoes of Justice Dinakaran, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court.

He was having a chat with the media men, who had met him at Kings Sanctuary near Nagarahole in the district, where he has arrived to spend annual holidays, on Wednesday December 23.

“I gave the same reply when a national television channel asked me this question a week back. I congratulate Advocates Association Bangalore for the courage and conviction shown by it in handling this issue. I am happy that besides revealing the illegal properties of the Chief Justice, the Association stood firm with its demand that he should not be elevated to the Supreme Court,” he said.

“In Justice V Ramaswamy’s case a few years back, nine our of 12 charges referred against him, had been proved, and both the houses of parliament had decided to censure him. But, shamefully, the Congress Party did not support this decision,” he said. He also termed Justice Dinakaran incident as a blot on the judiciary. “A committee that included myself, Fali Nariman, Shantibhushan, Anil Diwan etc., formed to investigate the issue, found that the Karnataka Chief Justice was not fit for promotion,” he explained.

He expressed the opinion that the judges have to take responsibility, respect their conscience, and make details of their assets public. He also wanted the central government to form National Judicial Commission urgently to protect the trustworthiness of judiciary, and blamed political parties of not coming forward in support of this proposal.