Karnataka high court judge fires salvo at top judiciary

Pro-active Karnataka high court judge DV Shylendra Kumar has fired another salvo at the top judiciary on the efficacy of its "moral authority" in ensuring that erring judges fall in place.

He also doubted the effectiveness of the impeachment proceedings in the present system against judges of the superior courts.

Justice Kumar in an article on "Judicial Accountability" in the souvenir of the Karnataka State Advocates Conference, being held in Hubli today, and which has been posted on his blog, says, "Judicial accountability is a phrase, which sounds incongruous, and can convey conflicting messages.

"The phrase has assumed importance in the wake of the improper, irregular and incorrect manner of functioning of judicial officers, even amongst the judges in the superior courts," he noted in an apparent reference to the land-grabbing charges being faced by Karnataka chief justice PD Dinakaran.

Justice Kumar has been critical of Justice Dinakaran continuing to discharge administrative functions after staying away from the bench.

Questioning the moral authority of chief justice of India against the backdrop of developments in the Justice Dinakaran issue, he opined, "The concept that the Chief Justice of India, being the head of judiciary in the country, and therefore, can exercise his moral authority to ensure that erring judges fall in place and behave themselves, is a misnomer and misconception."