Dinakaran decision not on hold: Moily

The government on Saturday rubbished reports that a final decision on whether the controversial Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran would be promoted to the Supreme Court, has been put on hold. Nagendar Sharma reports.

The government on Saturday rubbished reports that a final decision on whether the controversial Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran would be promoted to the Supreme Court, has been put on hold.

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Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said the reports giving such an impression, which appeared in some newspapers, “were not correct.”

“Such erroneous conclusions should not be drawn when a mandatory comprehensive procedure which takes into account all aspects is being followed,” Moily told Hindustan Times.

He said since the issue involved was of a “proposed elevation” to the top court of the country, it would take some time to complete the complex procedure for taking a final decision either way.

“The matter is between the Supreme Court collegium and the government. A final decision in accordance with the guidelines laid down in the Memorandum of Procedures, 1996, will be taken,” the minister said.

He said the constitutional authorities had the “ways and means” of ascertaining all facts related to any case, and there was no question of postponing anything.

The name of Justice Dinakaran and four other judges was recommended for promotion to the Supreme Court by a panel of country’s top judges (collegium) on August 28.

However, on September 8, top jurists led by Fali S. Nariman and Ram Jethmalani, had in a letter to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) objected to Justice Dinakaran’s name, citing serious allegations of corruption against him.

The collegium met again on September 18, and was understood to have discussed the issue again, but no final decision was taken.

There were reports that the CJI had ordered a “discreet inquiry” into the allegations, but a law ministry official said “nothing had been communicated to the government so far.”