JOIN USDecision on Dinakaran deferred again
The clarifications pertain to the adverse report submitted by the Tamil Nadu government stating that Dinakaran and his family members had encroached upon a large extent of public land near Chennai.
The collegium deferred a decision on the issue and asked Justice Dinakaran, who was present in the capital, to submit further clarifications on the allegations, according to Supreme Court sources.
The collegium, comprising Justice Balakrishnan and four senior most Judges – Justices S H Kapadia, Tarun Chatterjee, Altamas Kabir and R V Raveendran – met here for 90 minutes in the morning at the residence of the CJI.
Sources said that there was a difference of opinion in the collegium and a few members were of the opinion that Justice Dinakaran’s name for elevation to the Supreme Court should be withdrawn.
Sunday’s meeting of the collegium was the third since August 27.
On Saturday, Justice Dinakaran had submitted a written clarification and also met the CJI here during the two-day conference on ‘Strengthening the judiciary and reducing pendency and delays’.
Sources also said that the Supreme Court sought more information from the Tamil Nadu government in view of a new representation from some advocates from Tamil Nadu and the Forum for Judicial Accountability to the CJI for a CBI probe into the land grab issue.
At the end of the conference, Law Minister Veerappa Moily told reporters: “We shall not allow the image of the judiciary to be tarnished.’’
Asked about the fate of Justice Dinakaran, he said: “There is a constitutional authority to look into any allegation against a judge. This statement is not aimed at any particular person.’’
In its report, the Tamil Nadu government alleged that Justice Dinakaran and his relatives possessed more than 500 acres of land apart from encroaching upon a large tract of public land in Kaverirajapuram in Tiruttani taluk of Tiruvallur district.
The report also said that some commercial buildings in Chennai worth crores of rupees are owned by the family members of Justice Dinakaran.