Dinakaran not above law,will have to go: Moily

Asked if Dinakaran,who is facing an impeachment motion moved by 76 members of the Rajya Sabha,will have to abide by the collegiums advice,Moily replied in the affirmative,saying he was not above the law.

The hand of law is quite long enough to catch anyone. I dont think Justice Dinarakan is above the law,or he is beyond the reach of the law, Moily said.

While Dinakaran has refused to say anything on the issue,HC officials had claimed that he was awaiting a formal communication from the collegium before taking a call on whether to proceed on leave or not.

Dinakaran has not been performing judicial duties since December last year when an impeachment motion was initiated against him in the Rajya Sabha following charges of land grab,accumulation of disproportionate wealth and impropriety.

The charges had first surfaced when Justice Dinakarans candidature had come up for elevation to the Supreme Court. Due to the same,the collegium was forced to do a re-think on his candidature,before finally dropping him from the list.

Meanwhile,sources in the Law Ministry said Article 233 of the Constitution empowers the President to designate any HC Judge to perform the duties of CJ of a HC if the office of Chief Justice of a HC is vacant or when any such Chief Justice is unable to perform the duties of his office.

Law minister wants to regulate,institutionalise arbitration

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

Retired judges taking up arbitration cases to settle mainly commercial disputes by charging a hefty fee may soon be governed by fresh regulations.

Disclosing this,Union Minister for Law and Justice M Veerappa Moily said the government intends to bring in amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,1996 to make this possible. He also released a consultation paper suggesting major changes in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,1996. The comments to the paper would be received by Adviser to the Law Minister T K Vishwanathan,Moily said.

The amendments are aimed at institutionalising out-of-court settlements and ending long delay in settling commercial disputes. Moily said the ministry is proposing that any person who is appointed an arbitrator would first have to give a no-conflict-of-interest declaration. The possible arbitrator shall disclose in writing any past or present relationship,either direct or indirect,financial,business,professional or social or relationship with any of the parties involved in the dispute, he told reporters here.

Once amended,the Act would also reduce the interference of courts in appointing arbitrators,especially retired judges. It also seeks to institutionalise arbitration in India as per international standards so that the country can become the arbitration capital of the world.

We have the expertise. The only thing lacking is institutional backing and proper checks. In some cases,courts have interpreted the provisions of the Act in such a way which defeats the main object of such a legislation, he added. He said in case parties have not named an arbitrator,the court,instead of choosing an arbitrator on its own,would have to choose an accredited institute which would refer the matter to one or more arbitrators from its panel. This way,we want to institutionalise the system of arbitration in the country, he said.

To a question on the integrity of arbitrators,Moily said the institutions would ensure that the person being hired is accredited.