JOIN USIn August of 2009, the names of five chief justices were recommended by the Supreme Court collegium for elevation to the apex court. One of the names was Justice Dinakaran.
However in September, eminent jurists Fali Nariman and Shanthi Bhushan meet the Chief Justice of India and handed over a representation from the The Forum for Judicial Accountability, comprising several senior lawyers of Chennai, who questioned the integrity of the then Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran. Materials were given to the Chief Justice of India and the collegium to support allegations of land grabbing.
At the same time in Bangalore, the Advocates Association of Bangalore (AAB) passed a resolution to appeal to the Supreme Court collegium to take a decision regarding the elevation of the chief justice and requested Dinakaran not to conduct judicial proceedings when the high court resumed after a winter vacation break.
But Dinakaran sat through the court proceedings after the winter break, making the Association form a resolution to abstain from court proceedings on November 9.
The abstaining from work on November 9 ended with the locking of two judges in the court hall and only with the intervention of Dinakaran was the matter resolved.
While Dinakaran stopped sitting over court proceedings, he continued to discharge administrative functions.
In January 2010, about 75 opposition parties moved an impeachment motion against Justice Dinakaran.
Allegations
The allegations listed in the impeachment motion against Justice Dinakaran included possessing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income, unlawfully housing board plots in the name of his family and entering into benami transactions.
A three-member panel headed by Supreme Court Judge V S Sirpurkar was constituted by the Rajya Sabha to look into the impeachment issue.
Later Justice Sirpurkar recused himself after Dinakaran questioned his impartiality and was replaced by Justice Aftab Alam.
Another member Justice A R Dave was replaced by Chief Justice J S Khehar, after Dave was elevated to the Supreme Court. In July 2010, Dinakaran was finally transferred to Sikkim High Court.