Dinakaran's Resignation

No judge in the higher judiciary has been impeached in independent India. And hitherto no judge has resigned in the face of impending impeachment. The resignation of the chief justice of the Sikkim High Court, P D Dinakaran, who faced allegations of corruption and improper conduct, is in this context therefore very significant.

Impeachment proceedings against justice Dinakaran began in December 2009 after a motion in the Rajya Sabha was moved by 75 members of the opposition. The Rajya Sabha chairman then constituted a three-member committee – later to be led by justice Aftab Alam – to examine the allegations against the judge. The charges that the panel framed included corruption, land encroachment, tampering with evidence, abuse of judicial office, impropriety of conduct, acquisition of disproportionate assets and violation of human rights of dalits and the poor.