The case against Justice P.D. Dinakaran, the chief justice of the Karnataka high court, is the first in the history of post-independent India to be played out almost entirely in the age of 24×7 media.
While there have been dozens of judges with a question mark against them and while only two of them have had the infamy of having the impeachment process initiated against them (Justice V. Ramaswami and Justice Soumitra Sen), Justice Dinakaran has exclusively had his dirty linen washed in public.
Yet, slimy politicians will be slimy politicians, just as perhaps sleazy judges will be sleazy judges.
While 76 members of the Rajya Sabha have signed the 55-page impeachment petition, which the vice-president Hamid Ansari has admitted, the issue has quickly attained a pro-Dalit, anti-Dalit tone, just as it had when the issue first broke. Some Congress Dalit MPs have criticised the impeachment move, saying Justice Dinakaran was being hounded because he was a Dalit. And then that sturdy pillar of rectitude, Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Mayawati, has lent her weight to the issue.
In some ways, the current situation is no different from 1990, when Justice Ramaswami’s impeachment was seen as a plot against a south Indian. The Congress eventually abstained from the voting, rendering the impeachment void. However, the key difference in Justice Dinakaran’s case is the media play it has got. While the Congress is making the right noises today, there is no guarantee it will stick with this course.
Questions: Will Justice P.D. Dinakaran be eventually impeached? Or will the Dalit card help him out? Will the impeachment process drag on by which time he will retire “honourably”?
Full coverage: The strange case of Justice P.D. Dinakaran
CHURUMURI POLL: Is Dalit Dinakaran above the law?
If he is unfit for Supreme Court, how is he fit for Karnataka HC?
If he is unfit for Supreme Court, how is he fit for Karnataka HC—II?
‘Integrity + competence + judicial temperament’
Yella not OK, but Supreme Court silent yaake?
The brazen conduct of Justice Dinakaran
churumuri 
How will he be impeched? He is not a Brahman!!
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What an innocent question! Don’t you know that in India, people who are rich, influential, in power, in position, cine stars, cricketers and those belonging to certain castes are properly safeguarded against any sort of harm by law.
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It is sad that there is ‘reservation’ even for allegedly corrupt officials. How can one bring up their religious/caste identity just to ward off punishment for their misdeeds?
Dinakaran should be given every chance to prove his innocence, but the allegations are of serious nature, and we shouldn’t brook any interference in the name of caste here.
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Dalit anthe Brahmana anthe. Adenu thintharo hottege.
Does impeachment mean he will be OUT or only OUT of elevation.
Karnataka will have a second hand yet again. Forget Kannada medium then.
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Shouldn’t the question have been “Will Dinakaran be prosecuted and finally imprisoned?”
Considering the fact that despite bringing the legal community to absolute shame, he has been quietly enjoying the developments, thanks partly to a caste-ridden, corrupt political scenario. The Hindu newspaper has numerous reports of the poor Dalits, Irulas and other backward classes in Thiruvallur district, desperately pleading with the local authorities for help in getting back their land!
It is indeed a tragedy that such crooks with proven acts of high corruption, injustice and ruthless favouritism are let go off in the country which gifted The Mahatma to society.
Equally important is the fact that there are 2-3 more CJ’s who are very well-known for corruption and injustice. Sadly, none other than the current Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan had himself questioned the need for disclosure of judge’s assets while it is now mandatory for politicians to declare their assets!
Well, in the middle of this raging firestorm of record levels of corruption, illegal assets, swift and impossible verdicts, sycophancy and disclosure..etc there are some sparks of hope too. Notable among them being Justice DV Shylendra Kumar of the Karnataka High Court, Justice Kannan from the Punjab and Haryana High Court and many current as well retired members of the Supreme Court of India.
Perhaps the Govt. can demonstrate its genuine concern for the poor and fair justice by making a start and changing the obsolete rules in the constitution that was drafted in a bygone era. The clause that police cannot register an FIR against a judge on charges of corruption without the CJI’s permission has got to be trashed once and forever.
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How can they impeach a non-Brahmin?
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How will he be impeched? He is not a Brahman!!
How can they impeach a non-Brahmin?
Oh Bada Brahmanas are being victimized in India!!! They are out to snatch the birth right of brahmins to have the majority seats in SC Panel. How ridicules is the caste politics, that the SC panel, which untill now was devoid of corruption is polluted by inducting a corrupt judge!!!
He should be Impeached, lest any lower cast guys imagination soar. How else can the SC take selective interest in poor guys like venugopal, or offer backhand support to criminal strike of doctors “affected” by IIT reservation!!!
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@ Jacob Mathews:
Well said. Thanks for bring focus on the real issue.
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Why not commission yet one more inquiry, thoroughly unbedevilled by caste and government machinery, before any attempt to impeach?
As many have said, a Dalit can be guilty of wrongdoing as a Brahmin, but, if the situation in Karnataka is any indication, the government hardly bothers to discipline its IAS, IPS cadre thugs and I don’t know of a case where a Dalit official has ever had to pay for his or her misdeeds. In any case, to ask that naive question again, how can a person be a Dalit after he or she leaves the Hindu fold? How can one be a Dalit if she or he has attained a position of power not available to ordinary mortals?
I suspect there will be little change in the situation until some vote hungry national party makes the frequently demanded 69% reservation a reality. The law of unintended consequences will turn the nation into an even more divisive, ungovernable polity.
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Impeachment is ultimately a political call and from the looks of it, the Congress Party is is not keen on impeaching Dinakaran.
Two thirds majority is needed to impeach a judge and without the congress party’s support, it will not be possible to impeach him.
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going by what happened to Ramaswamy , impeachment will be like eating a peach to these honorable judges. Order Order sAhEbrige Peach Order.
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If Dinakaran is impeached then Dalit organisations will work overtime to expose other judges(adE itareyaru antiralla, haagE ;-) ) That would be awesome!
Would we have known about Dinakaran’s alleged misdeeds if he did not rule against the favour of a church?
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PTL,
I would also want to be enlightened. I was given to understand that Dalits converted to Christianity to escape casteist persecution, so for all legal transactions public or private they should be called christians and seize to be dalits. Who is this Dalit Christian? Is’nt that an oxymoron?
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The key issue here is not impeachment but swift, criminal prosecution considering the absolutely serious nature of the case and its negative effect on Indian Judiciary, which incidentally happens to be among the oldest!
While an impeachment is now a foregone conclusion, the major question is what next?
I guess Politics and the lure of Power are too intoxicating.
Obviously with the Mayawati’s of the land opening their doors to the most crooked, high handed and completely corrupt, defying the Supreme Court’s strictures (despite 140 cases filed against her, despite already costing the poor state Rs. 2000 crore of taxpayers’ money for erecting her own statues while spending only Rs. 300 Crore for drought..et al)
Well, impeachment or imprisonment, I guess only in India can a sitting CJ grab and claim to own almost 300 acres of illegal land, unaccounted gold and cash while a once upon-a-time, homeless poor teacher from Ghaziabad (and possibly a future PM of India thx to the Dalit tag) now owns disproportionate assets and burgeoning wealth officially worth 152 crore!
The biggest joke? Mayawati, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has recently ordered an anti-corruption drive to re-build her image. All said and done, Dinakaran already has a custom-made job waiting in the plush corridors of Lucknow!
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Alok–
What if the allegations turn out to be true? Will the Mahatma’s party still vote to keep the justice on the bench?
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The question is not whether he is a dalit, it is about how many higher caste corrupt officers who get away for similar frauds by having contacts.
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If he is found wrong, take away all his and his families wealth and property, cancel his citizen ship, take away their passport and ration card.
Just impeaching him and allowing him and his family to retain all the booty and live a luxurious life will not do. Any way this will not happen. At the end we can all have lot of laugh!
Who will do this?
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The key difference in Justice Dinakaran’s case is the media play it has got
Oh the saintly media who get worked up by corruption?? Or is it something more than corruption?? I mean this is the same prostitute media who pimp the news to the highest bidder, without any shame. Am sure they are not that innocent that they only know dinakaran, evenif he is, is the only corrupt.
Why do I get the feeling this is “match fixing” Ver 2.0 all over again. Everyone plays the same game, but the odd guy in the group is hung, when he grows little big for comfort. Was it not the case in match fixing, which was started by gavasker, tended by kapil, shastri and perpetuated by tendulkar, ganguly jadeja, azhar… but the fall guy was….
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@Pulikeshi
Even if “proved” (as per the enquiry report) congress MPs can always choose to stay away from the vote and render the whole exercise a nullity… as in the case of justice ramaswamy in the 90s.
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I feel really bad for that Italian Dalit Quatrocchi who was match-fixed by the ‘prostitute media’ as in Ver 1.1.
In fact I feel really very bad for those righteous was dalits who came from Pakistan and succeeded in their mission by dispensing instant social justice by murdering 100s of innocent people, Again they were match-fixed by the pimp media!
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I feel really bad for that Italian Dalit Quatrocchi who was match-fixed by the ‘prostitute media’ as in Ver 1.1.
In fact I feel really very bad for those righteous-war dalits who came from Pakistan and succeeded in their mission by dispensing instant social justice by murdering 100s of innocent people, Again they were match-fixed by the pimp media! Come on think about it? 1000s of guests come to Mumbai on rubber dinghies toting AK-47s grenades and bombs and there are colonel Purohits and Sadhvis,,,yet the Prostitute media pounces on these fall guys and accuses them of terrorism! Match fixing Ver 420 all over again!
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Actress Sridevi played an important role in V.Ramaswamy’s case.She persuaded the cong against his impeachment.Who will be this time ?
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I don’t think Dinakaran will be Impeached. Congress wants a corrupt judiciary. It has developed a corrupt country and I can almost hear Abhishek Singhvi saying “persons of judiciary is from the same stock as you and I”, as if society being corrupt, somehow justify judicial corruption.
What an excuse! Just like Indira Gandhi’s excuse “Corruption is Universal”.. So, what’s the big deal if I make my millions indeed??!!
Very depressing.
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I think we are wasting time here since
1.Manmohan has proclaimed Rahul Gandhi will be inducted by the time he dies giving some Rajdeep’s award. Ofcourse he has to return favour of Sonia.
He also states he is a fine gentleman. Looks like he has inside news of his spaniard girlfriend and their long distance relationships.
2. NRN is cursed by Karnataka house panel.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/Infosys-chief-promoters-in-trouble-over-Bangalore-airport/articleshow/5363205.cms
Looks like they have done a patchy work just like patchy Infosys software.
3. TATA speaks for flexible land laws. Now the parsi also wants his share of what has been KHoda, GOwda ,BOda and REddy’s daily bread.
Seeing Judiciary
1. A girl by name Ruchika molested by a DGP and who later committed suicide gets a bail even after convicted for only a 6 months jail after 16 years of CBI inquiry.
2.On the other hand Liberhann returns favour of congress after 17 years by cutting Vajapayee image.
3. Bangalore gets 3000+ pubs. Police are into rescuing bar girls successfully.Hmmm.
4. Prostitution to be legalized soon – and according to rumours there is plea for legal public masturbation from Gujjus since Gay law is already there.
Forget Dinakaran . We are into more serious corruption.
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Harkol Sir,
“ Congress wants a corrupt judiciary. It has developed a corrupt country”
Ah, one of these days they will apologize to the nation for corrupting the country and move on :-
As Rajdeep Sardesai says is hamaam me sab nange hai. There are atleast 40-50 politicians in India who are worth more than billion dollars. There are 1000s of politicians who own assets worth more than quarter billion dollars. Every decent politician and bureaucrat is worth atlaest 10 million dollars. This is a great trend in capital accumulation and the nation should be happy for this. More Kodas, merrier it is.
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@ Vishala:
Good. But not focussed on topic.
You really seem to have had enough of the complex political environ and most obvious corruption, which is understandably suffocating and completely retarded indeed. In fact, I fear you may soon join the most popular (especially, in rural areas) and arguably ruthless Naxalbhari psyche!
However, pls don’t assume that everyone is wasting time with Churumuri or the Indian Express or Tehelka ..etc or any serious forum and topic like Indian Justice!
Be it the shameless, opportunistic folks like Dinakaran or KG Balakrishnan or politicians like Moily or Jaitely or Koda or Bellary billionaires or the millionaire fraud Raju or for that matter, any of the innumerable caste-biased MPs/MLAs as well as the Biz-Politician-Fixer-Dodos-nexus you indicated, kindly remember that India is not yet a completely hopeless banana republic or a poor, low IQ democracy.
For a start, why can’t someone (?) investigate the absolute anger among the poorest, and actually starving dalit’s in Kaverirajapuram in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur district?
Or the silly, pseudo politics of Telengana Vs Andhra Cong-I and other parties?
Well, “the Dinakaran chapter in Karnataka is now an obvious and absolutely shameful negative black-blot on Indian Judiciary, Injustice and our society as a whole”. It is too serious for generations to come!
Let us all hope our country’s parliament, politicians and common-ma
n’s attitude, as well as historic lessons can completely marginalize the negative effects!
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@raghu R
“most obvious corruption”
I still don’t know how can corruption be obvious. Are you speaking Indira and Manmohan and brand congress mantra?
“I fear you may soon join the most popular (especially, in rural areas) and arguably ruthless Naxalbhari psyche!”
I really don’t know when rapists are given clean shit by court and a Goa CM batting for a rapist, air force girls being molested, politicians looting things, where is the difference. Naxals are just poor. nothing else.As always they are pushed down. And regarding terrorists, also it’s just a means of discipline.Teachers without bringing an element of terror cannot discipline variety of students. Just because PM is softened due to porn watching and English speakers’ contact he is fearful of terrorists, else normally Indians are known to be good wrestlers and boxers. It’s natural for them to act like Raj and KaRaVe . We saw our own MLA doing a good Kusthi. That doesn;t mean they are bad. They are masculine. Just that they don’t have anything worth doing. Still they are not slaves like the anglicized educated ones – wannabe americans.
“kindly remember that India is not yet a completely hopeless banana republic or a poor, low IQ democracy”
Are you sure?
See this. A unanimous bill passed in parliament for free 48 air travels with/without spouse.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/After-LS–RS-too-passes-Bill-allowing-free-air-travel-to–any-number-of-relatives–of-ministers/557961
IBN Live goes one step further to report this
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mps-reward-their-own-grant-free-air-travel-to-kin/107564-3.html?from=mp
the he can take any number of step children too!!
I haven’t seen a more liberal and secular verdict than this :)) The Roman Goddess is surely bringing waves of roman civilizational change in chaligalada december samsath when majority would be calm under covers.
I just calculated 50 travels for 600 MP’s 5000Rs for a travel would become 150 crores for one person.ARe they so naive to travel alone?
Just imagine how many thousands of crores of taxpayers money would go into this!! when concubines are involved- prostitution becoming legal.Escorts – a swelling idea in metros with youth being largest share of population. Hmmm possibilities are endless that a neighbourhood girls would take up this lucrative legal jobs.
And Raj Thackeray is putting sari on Kareena Kapoor. What a pity!!?
‘Let us all hope our country’s parliament, politicians and common-ma
n’s attitude, as well as historic lessons can completely marginalize the negative effects!”
country’s parliament- Today’s latest news is Khoda’s wife is winning in Jharkhand
About common-man’s attitude – I think you are still a bachcha who has to see a lot of world. If you see 50% are voting I still see 50% are not voting and it’s been 60 years.How can it be made compulsory. Even NRN doesn’t vote. WIll they stop flights on that day. WIll they drag people out of houses. Let’s say they did that. There still will be a provision of I don’t want to vote :))
historic lessons – Apparently Manmohan’s daughter has written a book on medieval India 100 Ramayana’s targetting BJP I suppose. She gets Infosys award also.
Come on man grow up.
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48 visits is also very calculated. 12 months of 4 weeks each. So every weekend fun travel.
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Raghu is right. All this talk is by ourselves, for ourselves. The so-called man on the street doesn’t give a damn. Don’t miss the irony in Mamata’s Thrinmool Congress itself becoming corrupt.
Yes, what is the rationale for allowing the MPs to take their families with them on airtrips?
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It has always been the upper castes fault since 60 yrs. THis is the easiest way for collecting the votes from minorities, and to divide the majority. This formula by congress works very well at any time, even if the AP divides into 3 or 4 pieces due to lack of political statesmanship. Manmohan singh is not a brahmin PM, So he is above criticism.
This will go on until the country ceases to exist as we know it and will morph may be into a large afganisthan .
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Khan is right. Ajmal Kasab is also innocent. He is being victimised by the media because he is Muslim.
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now, it turns out deve gowda supports the rogue judge dinakaran.
(hmm… one land-grabber patting another. why am in not surprised?)
here’s the story excerpt from today’s deccan herald:
Dinakaran lauded
With a few words of praise for Karnataka HC Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, Gowda said he was the one who had referred the matter to Lokayukta, headed by a retired SC judge, for a probe. Gowda alleged that 4,884 acres of land had been grabbed by NICE illegally, in collusion with the state government.
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