Dinakaran to Gangtok? We are not a dumping ground,says Bar

Even I say nobody is above the law. You ask anybody,they will say nobodys above the law, said Chief Justice of Karnataka P D Dinakaran today reacting to Union Law Minister Veerappa Moilys comments.

Moily,when asked about Justice Dinakaran reportedly not going on leave despite being asked to by a Supreme Court collegium,was quoted as saying nobodys above the law.

Speaking to The Indian Express,Justice Dinakaran,facing an impeachment probe following allegations of landgrab and impropriety,said that reports of his transfer to the Sikkim High Court were only being circulated by the media. Only journalists are reporting it, he said.

He said it was the prerogative of the Chief Justice of India alone to decide on him. The issue of the Ministers comments is being twisted by the media. I know the Cabinet Minister and the media is putting words in his mouth. This is not a healthy sign. I will not believe such a statement was made. He is most respectable, Justice Dinakaran said. I am not here to waste anyones time on concocted allegations.

Justice Dinakaran has been in the eye of a storm since allegations first surfaced against him in September last year. He stopped attending court duties in December when the impeachment motion was moved in the Rajya Sabha.

While the SC collegium is said to have decided to transfer Justice Dinakaran to Sikkim,its unclear what the collegium intends to do about J&K High Court Chief Justice Barin Ghosh who was also recently shifted to Sikkim HC as CJ. According to the warrant of transfer issued by the President,Ghosh has been given time till April 12 to take oath at Sikkim.

The Sikkim Bar Association held an emergency general house meeting and decided to boycott Dinakaran in case he took over as CJ. It sent a protest letter to the President,the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India.

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Sikkim is not a dumping ground. Justice Dinakaran should not be transferred to Sikkim High Court. We take strong exception and object to Sikkim being undermined repeatedly and identified as a condemned place, the letter says.

Is our HC a dumping ground where the collegium can send all tainted judges? If Dinakaran is not fit to continue as CJ of Karnataka,how can he be fit to lead our HC? said Association president D R Thapa.

In September 2005,former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice B K Roy,who had a major tiff with his brother Judges in the Guwahati High Court where he was shifted from Chandigarh,was transferred to Sikkim HC. In January 2007,the collegium recommended the transfer of Gujarat HC Judge B J Shethna to Sikkim as a punishment for an alleged scuffle with brother Judge,P B Majumdar. However,Shethna resigned citing personal reasons.

The Sikkim High Court has a sanctioned strength of just three Judges,including the Chief Justice and a pendency of less than 100 cases.