Two Supreme Court judges withdraw from Dinakaran case

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New Delhi, April 28 (: The hearing on a petition by Sikkim High Court Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran, facing an impeachment motion, was deferred Thursday as two Supreme Court judges withdrew themselves from the matter.
Justice D.K. Jain and Justice H.L. Dattu of the two-member apex court bench withdrew from the hearing on Justice Dinakaran's plea seeking a stay on the inquiry proceedings against him under the impeachment motion and removal of counsel P.P. Rao from a committee probing charges of misconduct against him.
Justice Dinakaran has sought the removal of Rao on the grounds that he was prejudiced against him as he (Rao) was one of the several people who had pleaded with the then chief justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan against his elevation to the apex court.
Justice Dinakaran, facing charges of corruption, land-grab and abuse of judicial office, sought the stay of the Judges Inquiry Committee's (JIC) proceedings till his petition seeking the removal of Rao from it was decided by the apex court.
The three-member (JIC) was set up by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari after a motion seeking the initiation of impeachment proceedings and removal of Justice Dinakaran was moved Dec 14, 2009.
The panel includes Justice Aftab Alam of apex court, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Justice J.S. Khehar and Rao. Inquiry proceedings are related to the impeachment motion moved in the Rajya Sabha.
Justice Dinakaran's plea before the inquiry committee asking Rao to withdraw from the panel was rejected by it April 24.
The committee, while declining the plea by Justice Dinakaran, said that the objection should have been raised at the time of the constitution of the committee.
Justice Dinakaran contended that the decision of the inquiry committee to continue with the presence of Rao on the committee would be violative of the Article 14 of the constitution that guarantees equality before the law.
'If there is reasonable likelihood of bias, it is in accordance with natural justice and common sense that the judge likely to be so biased should be incapacitated from sitting. The basic principle underlying the rule is that justice must not only be done but must also appear to be done,' Justice Dinakaran said in his petition.