Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, distinguished jurist and retired Judge of the Supreme Court, writes:
The latest round of developments involving Justice P.D. Dinakaran, who stands transferred from the Karnataka High Court as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court, has led to a contradiction that calls into question the very authority of the Supreme Court Collegium and makes the state appear powerless. Justice Dinakaran seems to have defied the whole system. As it is, the Collegium is a syndrome of the judiciary that finds no mention in the Constitution, nor is it an institutional functionary.
Fear of contempt of court is forcing many jurists, the Bar, and journalists to remain silent. How do you otherwise explain this silence in the world's largest democracy, while the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court seeks to keep information concerning vital aspects of the functioning of the court to himself and says he is not a public servant? (Of course, he reversed his stand subsequently.) And now a judge dismisses a direction given by the Collegium.
What will the public think of a judge who is prima facie found to have involved himself in questionable practices and is thus found to be unfit to be elevated to the highest Bench but is allowed to continue as the Chief Justice of a High Court? The mystery deepens as they discover that the same strange robe is transferred to the Sikkim High Court — as if the litigants of Sikkim can submit to corrupt justice.
The obvious course of action is to prosecute a corrupt judge. Does not the High Bench know that judges are bound by the penal law, too?
What is a bigger shock? A judge who flouts the Collegium and seemingly gets away with it, or a Chief Justice with two companion-judges finding a judge prima facie culpable of wrongdoing but ignoring a direction to go on leave or be transferred?
Those who know the law will ask whether the Indian Penal Code is in coma. Penal law must begin functioning against the robed brethren. Be you ever so high, you the judge is not above the law. Act now, though it is already late, and get the court rid of corruption by prosecution before impeachment. Ignorance of the law is no excuse even in the highest office. There is no iron curtain between the curial robe and the criminal code.
