JOIN US The Chief Justice’s absence gave room for further rumours of his possible resignation. Some were heard speculating about the sudden cancellation of the sitting.
The Chief Justice was scheduled to hear 28 cases, including a matter pertaining to Empire hotel’s operating hours, which was posted for final hearing. Some cases got posted to a different bench headed by Justice V Gopala Gowda.
There were also rumours that the Chief Justice had left for Delhi as the collegium would decide on his elevation on Wednesday.
Divided over decision
Following the collegium’s decision, the legal fraternity is divided over whether Chief Justice Dinakaran should preside over proceedings or not.
The Advocates Association Bangalore (AAB) has decided to wait for the collegium’s decision, while forum for Judicial Accountability of Karnataka has urged the Chief Justice of India not to assign any judicial works to Chief Justice Dinakaran, until he was cleared of corruption charges.
Encroachment
It could be recalled that Chief Justice Dinakaran’s name was put on hold by the Supreme Court’s collegium from the elevation list, after adverse reports were sent by the Tamil Nadu government indicating that Dinakaran had encroached upon vast extents of government land in the state.
The collegium of the Supreme court had asked Justice Dinakaran to comment on the Tamil Nadu government’s report on Wednesday.
However, according to the sitting list released by the High Court, the Chief Justice will conduct the judicial sitting on Wednesday.