New pressure for Justice Dinakaran's impeachment

New Delhi: Corruption charges stopped him from being promoted to the Supreme Court. Now, Justice PD Dinakaran may be impeached. He's currently the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.

Seventy-five Members of Parliament from different Opposition parties have met the Vice President to formally request Dinakaran's impeachment.

Dinakaran was among five high court judges recommended earlier this year for promotion to the Supreme Court by a collegium or panel of senior judges. Allegations of land grabbing in Tamil Nadu led to his being dropped from that list.

A 56-page proposed notice of motion was circulated among Rajya Sabha MPs on Monday morning. The document lists 12 counts of alleged misconduct by Justice Dinakaran, including collecting wealth that's disproportionate to his known income. He's also charged with destroying evidence, and with passing "dishonest judicial orders... to favour a few individuals or for his own unjust enrichment."

Law Minister Veerappa Moily has said in the Rajya Sabha that the government is working on introducing more accountability among judges. He also says he wants the process of appointing and promoting judges to be more transparent.

So what does it take to impeach a judge?

• A petition ha to be signed by at least 50 MPs of the Rajya Sabha or 100 MPs of the Lok Sabha.
• The petition is then submitted to the Rajya Sabha chairman or the Lok Sabha speaker, depending on where the petition is initiated.
• A three-member committee made up of a sitting Supreme Court judge, a High Court Chief Justice, and a jurist investigates the charges
• If the committee finds the judge guilty, and recommends his removal, the matter is sent for a vote in Parliament
• There, it has to be approved by a two-thirds majority of each house, and an absolute majority of the total membership of each house.