The names of four judges other than that of Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court P D Dinakaran will be processed for elevation to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on Sunday said.
Asked about a newspaper report that the name of Justice Dinakaran, who is facing charges of land-grabbing, has been dropped, he only replied, "No, no".
"We have only asked that the names of four other judges should be processed for their appointment as judges of the Supreme Court," Balakrishnan told reporters on the sidelines of the All-India Conference of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told PTI that he has received several communications on various issues from many constitutional authorities but he would not like to comment on anything regarding them.
The move to put on hold Dinakaran's elevation comes amid allegations that the judge has amassed land in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvallur district.
The Supreme Court Collegium had earlier considered a report of the District Collector of Tiruvallur which is believed to have pointed out that at Kaverirajapuram in Tiruttani taluk alone, the extent of land allegedly possessed by the judge was approximately 500 acres.
The Collegium had earlier cleared along with that of Dinakaran the names of Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court A K Patnaik, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court T S Thakur, Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court S S Nijjar and Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court K S Radhakrishnan for elevation to the apex court.
The Collegium, headed by the CJI and comprising Justices B N Agarwal, S S Kapadia and Altamas Kabir, had asked the District Collector for his report on the allegations against Dinakaran.
Earlier, various representations were made by eminent lawyers, including those from Tamil Nadu, urging the CJI and the government to probe the charges and not to elevate the judge. PTI
