‘MORE LOYAL THAN THE KING’: CHELAMESWAR ON K’TAKA CJ

NEW DELHI: Justice J Chelameswar of the Supreme Court has criticised the chief justice of the Karnataka high court for initiating an inquiry against a district judge, who was cleared for elevation by the Supreme Court collegium, allegedly at the Centre’s behest, and suggested that he was “more loyal than the king”.

In a letter dated March 21, sent to Chief Justice Dipak Misra with copies to all the judges of the SC, Justice Chelameswar also questioned why the Karnataka HC chief justice, Dinesh Maheshwari, did not inform the CJI about the probe.

“The chief justice (Maheshwari), establishing himself to be more loyal than the King, acts on it (Centre’s request), convenes a meeting of the Administrative Committee, and decides to reinvestigate the issue, thus burying the previous Chief Justice’s findings on the same issue, given at our asking. He has been gracious enough to inform us, at least now,” read Justice Chelameswar’s letter, which was seen by HT on Thursday.

Justice Chelameswar, the second senior-most judge in the top court, also cautioned in the letter against the “bonhomie between the judiciary and the government”. “Attempts were always made to treat the chief justices as the departmental heads in the secretariat. So much for our independence and pre-eminence as a distinct state organ. Someone from Bangalore has already beaten us in the race to the bottom. The Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court has been more than willing to do the Executive bidding, behind our back,” he added.