Govt pleads helplessness in graft case against ex-chief justice Balakrishnan
17 Jun 2011
Despite the strong corruption allegations against former chief justice of India K G Balakrishnan, who continues to head the National Human Rights Commission, the government on Thursday pleaded helplessness to act against him.
Speaking to CNN-IBN, union law minister Veerappa Moily said that case has to be filed against Balakrishnan before the government to act. And of course impeaching a Supreme Court judge is a complicated process in India, approval from both houses of Parliament, among other things.
"There is a rule of law, there is a procedure and that procedure needs to be followed. Someone has to file a prosecution, and then procedure will be followed. Let them take the appropriate process that itself will answer the question," said Moily.
In an interview to the same channel, retired Kerala high court judge P K Shamsuddin said that Balakrishnan is "approachable" – implying that he could be bribed.
Shamsuddin said he was asked in 2009 by a Bangalore-based person to ''approach'' Balakrishnan's son and son-in-law in connection with a case in the Supreme Court. Shamsuddin refused to name the person.
Justice Shamsuddin was a judge in the Kerala High Court till 1993 along with Balakrishnan. He said the government is going slow in its probe against Balakrishnan, who should have the grace to resign pending a probe into allegations.
Asked if relatives could influence a judge, Shamsuddin said, " I can't say assertively but people think chief justice can be influenced by these people."
When contacted by the TV channel with a detailed questionnaire, Justice Balakrishnan sent a "bland denial", the channel said in a release.
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