Petition for impeachment of Dinakaran likely next week

With more than 50 Rajya Sabha members favouring impeachment of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, a petition in this regard is likely to be submitted to the House Chairman Mohammed Hamid Ansari early next week. A signature campaign is underway and more than 50 Rajya Sabha members from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Left parties and Samajwadi Party, among others, are understood to have signed the petition, sources said.

Congress members have reportedly refrained from signing on the document. As per rules, a petition containing signatures of at least 50 of the 250 member Rajya Sabha, which is the first step in the impeachment process. Under rules, the MPs' petition is sent to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat for verification of signatures. On being satisfied that appropriate procedures have been followed, a committee is set up for further consideration of the petition. The move to impeach Dinakaran has come in the backdrop of allegations of land grabbing against him for which his elevation as a judge of the Supreme Court has been stalled.

The government has already sent back Dinakaran's file to the Supreme Court Collegium to reconsider its decision toelevate him. A resolution, to be carried, should have the support of two-thirds majority of the members present in each House of Parliament. After this, the President will pass an order. 

If the petition against Dinakaran is considered, it will be the second petition moved before the Rajya Sabha. The House has already set up a three-member committee into a similar petition against Calcutta High Court judge Soumitra Sen who is facing similar charges. Denying the charges against him, Dinakaran has questioned the motive behind the campaign against him and said he will come out with "clean hands".
    
The judge has said his delicate position as Chief Justice has forced him to observe self-restraint to "counter and expose" the people behind the campaign which ultimately would not succeed and "truth will prevail". "It is not for me to prove my innocence. A day would come when people would realise that I am a person with clean hands and heart. I will come out of this with clean hands," Dinakaran had said.