DINAKARAN’S TRANSFER; PREZ DECISION SOON

The file containing a two-month-old proposalby the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India to transfer Justice P D Dinakaran as Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court has gathered momentum and a decision from the President is expected soon.
The proposal, sent to law ministry by the collegium in the first week of April, gathered speed on Thursday after rumours about Justice Dinakaran, who had recused himself fromjudicial work, resuming normal functioning set the Karnataka High Court abuzz.
Law ministry sources said the proposal to transfer the Karnataka HC chief justice, against whom an impeachment motion is pending in Rajya Sabha, would get the necessary approval from authorities soon.
This means the other components of the proposal — transferring Uttarakhand HC Chief Justice J S Khehar to Karnataka HC as chief justice — would also be approved by the government and given effect to along with the order transferring Justice Dinakaran to Sikkim HC.
With impeachment motion pending against Justice Dinakaran, the Rajya Sabha chairman has appointed a three-member committee headed by Supreme Court judge Justice V S Sirpurkar to inquire into the alleged corruption charges levelled against him.
With corruption charges being inquired into, Justice Dinakaran could not have been sent to a major HC, forcing the collegium to zero in on Sikkim HC, which has a strength of just three judges. In comparison, the sanctioned strength of Karnataka HC is 50 judges.
On the flip side, there is very little judicial work in Sikkim HC, which has a total pendency of 88 civil and criminal cases. In contrast, Karnataka HC has a pendency of 156,030 cases.
Justice Khehar, who was sworn in as chief justice of Uttarakhand HC on November 29 last year, would now become chief justice of Karnataka HC.