All eyes back on judge who gave first surprise
As the Supreme Court stayed the Uttarakhand high court’s verdict to repeal President’s rule in the state, another important adjudication for revocation of the disqualification of rebel Congress MLAs is awaited on Saturday in the court of Justice Umesh Chandra Dhyani. It was his judgment asking the Harish Rawat-led government to seek a trust vote on March 31 that set the ball rolling for more judicial interventions.
Coming from the provincial judicial services, Dhyani joined the erstwhile Uttar Pradesh Judicial Service on November 5, 1979. He worked as district judge of Udam Singh Nagar, Nainital, and director of the state judicial academy (UJALA), and then the district judge of Dehradun. Later, he was appointed registrar gen- eral in the Uttarakhand high court on September 20, 2010. He was also appointed law secretary of the state government and legal advisor to the Governor. Dhyani was elevated as judge of the high court on September 13, 2011.
In the current crisis, Dhyani’s big pronouncement was to seek a trust vote by the Rawat government on March 31 while hearing the case against president’s rule on March 29. But this was stayed by the division bench of the HC following a revision petition filed by the central government.