Order in-house probe, blusters Dinakaran - but retracts

Caught in a quagmire of allegations of land grabbing and encroachment of public land, Karnataka high court chief justice P D Dinakaran bravely suggested to Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan that a three-judge in-house panel be to probe the charges against him - only to promptly retract, according to a Times of India report quoting ''highly placed sources''.

Justice Dinakaran's contention was that while unsubstantiated charges were flying thick and fast against him, he had no opportunity or forum to prove his innocence.

He had asked the CJI to constitute an in-house inquiry committee of three judges to inquire into the charges, including misuse of his office to grant judgements favourable to himself. (See: Tainted judge Dinakaran faces impeachment move by opposition MPs)

But Justice Balakrishnan explained to him that once an in-house judicial panel was constituted to probe into the allegations, Justice Dinakaran would have to sit at home, as he could not be assigned official work pending the inquiry proceedings. Upon this, Dinakaran immediately withdrew his suggestion.

Meanwhile, more and more skeletons seem to be tumbling out of Dinakaran's closet. Recently, for example, the Thiruvallur collector has submitted a report lending support to the allegation that Justice Dinakaran had encroached 197 acres of public land.