A Supreme Court bench on Thursday withdrew itself from hearing a petition by Sikkim High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran against having senior advocate P P Rao on board the inquiry committee considering his impeachment for judicial misconduct.
Justices D K Jain and H L Dattu did not give any reasons for their recusal,and simply told the lawyers present that the case will go to another bench.
As per procedure,the bench will refer the case to the CJI who will commission the case to another bench by Friday.
Justice Dinakaran,due to retire on May 9,2012,is charged with several instances of land grabbing and possession of disproportionate assets during his tenure as Karnataka HC Chief Justice. The petition alleged the likelihood of bias in the inquiry proceedings as Rao had earlier campaigned against him when his elevation to the SC was under consideration. The senior advocate was part of a delegation which met then CJI KG Balakrishnan in 2009 against appointing Justice Dinakaran.
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