Judges panel probing Dinakaran free to frame rules: SC
The Rajya Sabha-appointed judicial panel to probe charges of corruption and misconduct against Sikkim Chief Justice P D Dinakaran was free to frame any rule for conduct of the proceedings, the Supreme Court has held.
A bench of justices G S Singhvi and C K Prasad in an order rejected Dinakaran's plea that permitting the convenor of the Forum for Judicial Accountability R Vaigai to watch the proceedings violated his statutory or Constitutional right.
By an order dated May 24, 2011 the three-member committee headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Aftab Alam under the Judges (Inquiry) Act,1968 permitted Vaigai to observe the proceedings through a counsel, which Dinakaran sought to challenge.
Interpreting the rules, the apex court said "a reading of the plain language of Section 4(1) (Judges Inquiry Act) makes it clear that the committee has been given complete freedom in the matter of regulating its procedure for the purpose of making investigation.
"The exercise of this power is subject to the rules made in this behalf. There is nothing in the language of Section 4(1) or any other section from which it can be inferred that the committee is inhibited from allowing a third person to remain present in the proceedings of the case," the bench said.
The apex court said Vaigai was "not a meddlesome interloper qua the proceedings initiated against the petitioner."
She is the convenor of the Forum for Judicial Accountability which made representations to various constitutional functionaries and Members of Parliament and ultimately 50 members of the Rajya Sabha moved the motion for the judge's removal, the apex court said.
The Forum for Judicial Accountability had been in the forefront seeking removal of Dinakaran for his alleged corrupt practices.
On July 5, the apex court had rejected Dinakaran's plea for invalidating the inquiry but conceded his plea for replacing senior lawyer P P Rao from the panel after the judge alleged he was biased against him.
The Rajya Sabha chairman subsequently replaced Rao with G Mohan Gopal, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
The committee will continue to have Supreme Court judge Aftab Alam as chairman and Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court J S Khehar as one of the members.
The bench had earlier castigated Dinakaran for adopting delaying tactics and rejected his plea to invalidate the inquiry.
