Justice Kumar trains his guns on SC collegium

Justice DV Shylendra Kumar, the rebellious Karnataka High Court judge, in a fresh outburst has slammed the panel of five seniormost judges (the Supreme Court collegium) for its failure to weed out the corrupt judges.

Justice DV Shylendra Kumar, the rebellious Karnataka High Court judge, in a fresh outburst has slammed the panel of five seniormost judges (the Supreme Court collegium) for its failure to weed out the corrupt judges.

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Justice Kumar, the first judge who took on former Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan for his reluctance to divulge information under the RTI Act, has criticised the collegium for turning a blind eye to the dark spots in the institution.
In the latest attack on the former CJI, who retired on May 12, Justice Kumar stated: “He and his colleagues in the Supreme Court collegium have not necessarily played straight or in consonance with the accepted moral standards …”

In his latest blog post, Justice Kumar named his HC chief justice P.D. Dinakaran, Justice Nirmal Yadav of the Uttarakhand HC and Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta HC as the dimly lit spots in the judiciary. “It is no doubt true that there are dark spots and dimly lit areas in the judiciary, whether it is Justice Dinakaran, Justice Nirmal Yadav and Justice Soumitra Sen and also the masked manner of functioning of the collegium of the Supreme Court and the High courts.”

In an 83-page lecture he delivered at Mangalore recently, Justice Kumar questioned the legal protection being enjoyed by judges from any criticism against them.

“Protection to the judges of the superior courts…has only been abused in recent times with errant judges who have become insensitive not only to their duties and responsibilities but also to public opinion...,” he remarked.

In a veiled attack on Justice Dinakaran, Kumar said judges sticking to their posts despite facing impeachment proceedings, have diminished the judiciary's image and the common man's trust in the institution.