NGOs want Sirpurkar to recuse himself

Ahead of the crucial meeting on September 19 to frame charges against the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court, P.D. Dinakaran, a group of non-governmental organisations have urged the Supreme Court Judge and chairperson of the probe committee, Justice V.S. Sirpurkar, to recuse himself from it.

The committee, which includes the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, J.S. Khehar, and senior advocate P.P. Rao, is investigating the grounds on which the removal of Justice Dinakaran was sought by Members of Parliament.




In a petition sent to Justice Sirpurkar, Peoples' Watch, Human Rights Advocacy and Research Foundation and six other organisations said they were espousing the cause of the Dalits of Kaverirajapuram village deprived of access to common grazing land and water resources, and other rights by Justice Dinakaran.

They said they were prepared to produce evidence during the course of any inquiry into the charges. They said: “Impeachment proceedings, as envisaged by the Constitution, are intended to preserve the independence of the judiciary. Proper constitution of this committee is therefore crucial to the process, and its members must not only be impartial but also must appear to be impartial. This will exclude any person who has had association and friendship with the person whose acts are to be investigated.”

They said: “Without casting any aspersion on the chairperson, for whom we have the greatest respect, we cannot but help entertain an apprehension of a real likelihood of bias, in view of his close friendship and association with Justice Dinakaran. A dispassionate and completely neutral approach from a person entrusted with the inquiry into the acts of a friend/close acquaintance cannot be expected when the close and friendly association extends to almost 13 years.”

The Forum for Judicial Accountability has also sent a similar petition to Justice Sirpurkar, and no action has been taken on it, its convenor R. Vaigai said