SC collegium drops Dinakaran from list for elevation

New Delhi: Supreme Court c o l l e g i u m has pulled out the name of Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court PD Din a k a r a n from the list of five chief justices of HCs it had recommended for elevation to the apex court.

The decision to take controversy-scarred Justice Dinakaran off the panel, taken at the collegium’s meeting last week, has been conveyed to Centre, clearing the way for the filling up of four of seven vacancies in the Supreme Court.
This was confirmed to TOI by Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan. Those who are now set to join the Bench in the top court are — Justices AK Patnaik, TS Thakur, SS Nijjar and KS Radhakrishnan, Chief Justices of high courts of Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, Calcutta and Gujarat in that order. The benching of Justice Dinakaran was expected, given the furore over his alleged encroachment on public land.
This is a blow to him as the Karnataka High Court chief had doggedly defended himself, contemptuously dismissing even the report of the Thiruvallur district collector that found the encroachment charge to be correct.
Asked about his letter to the law ministry, the CJI said: “If anyone has done any thing that would amount to misconduct, we do not want him as a judge of the Supreme Court.”