Three years after he quit on corruption charges, controversial high court chief justice PD Dinakaran queued up to become a member of the anti-graft watchdog Lokpal in 2014, according to documents released by the government this week.
According to the list, justice Dinakaran was one of the 23 judges, lawyers and professors who eyed the four Lokpal post for judges and jurists advertised by the UPA government in January 2014. The department of personnel had sought applications for one post of Chairman and eight positions -- four each for judicial and non-judicial members -- in the anti-graft body.
Dinakaran had quit, insisting that he was targeted as he was a Dalit and the probe panel set up against him by the Rajya Sabha chairman was biased. The inquiry was ordered on an impeachment notice against him by 75 MPs in December 2009.
The Centre had initially refused to make the list public but the Central Information Commission last month put its foot down. A decision to retain or scrap the selection process – which will be started after Parliament approves amendments to the Lokpal law – has not been taken so far.
“It is only when the names of the candidates for such sensitive post are disclosed that the public can bring up various facts, which may or may not have been disclosed by the candidates, to the notice of the selection committee,” information commissioner Sudhir Bhargava ordered.
{{/usCountry}}“It is only when the names of the candidates for such sensitive post are disclosed that the public can bring up various facts, which may or may not have been disclosed by the candidates, to the notice of the selection committee,” information commissioner Sudhir Bhargava ordered.
{{/usCountry}}According to the list, Dinakaran had applied against the nominated category but the documents make it clear that his application was received directly, without any nomination or forwarding letter.
The least number of applications, 16, were received for the Lokpal chairman’s post.