Lawyers' body asks Dinakaran to voluntarily quit

The Advocates Association of  Bangalore (AAB) today said it expects Karnataka High Court chief justice PD Dinakaran to voluntarily quit following the Centre's refusal to elevate him to the Supreme Court in the wake of land grabbing allegations against him.

In view of the government returning the Supreme Court collegium's recommendation on Dinakaran, it was left to the discretion of senior lawyers to demand his resignation or seek his impeachment by the Lok Sabha, AAB office bearers, including its president KN Puttegowda, said in a statement.

"However, to uphold the dignity of the judiciary, we hope that Justice Dinakaran will volunteer to resign his post," the statement said.

The AAB further said it would also oppose Dinakaran presiding over the bench and threatened that in the event of that he rejected the plea of the association, it would convene a meeting of its general body to decide the future course of action.

Last month, AAB had called for a day-long boycott of courts and the protest turned violent in the high court, over which the court launched contempt proceedings against AAB.