SC to hear Dinakarn plea against removal proceeding

SC to hear Dinakarn plea against removal proceeding

The Supreme Court will hear tomorrow the Sikkim High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran's plea seeking a stay of the impeachment proceedings initiated against him for alleged misconduct and corruption.

A bench headed by Justice D K Jain will take up Dinakaran's petition in which the beleaguered judge has challenged the proceedings before a three-member Rajya Sabha-appointed inquiry panel which has been hearing the charges of alleged land grabbing and possession of wealth disproportionate to known sources of his income.

He has sought quashing of the order of the panel which has refused his plea for the recusal of senior advocate P P Rao on the ground that he was biased against him.

The panel, headed by Justice Aftab Alam of the Supreme Court, also includes Karnataka High Court Chief Justice J S Khehar, besides Rao.

Justice Dinakaran, in his petition, said there was likelihood of bias in the proceedings as Rao had earlier campaigned against him when his elevation to the Supreme Court was under consideration.