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The pressure on former SC Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan to step down as NHRC chairman mounts as allegations of unaccounted wealth against his kin become more insistent
The cloud hovering over National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman and former Chief Justice of India (CJI) KG Balakrishnan has just got a bit darker. First it was his alleged covert attempt to influence a high court judge in Tamil Nadu in a bail hearing involving a father and son duo accused in a marks scandal in Puducherry. And now, members of his family are under fire for having amassed wealth beyond their known sources of income during his tenure as CJI.
The NHRC chief’s son-in-law and lawyer PV Sreenijan, who is also a politician, another son-in-law MJ Benny and brother KG Bhaskaran, senior government pleader, are facing charges of financial misconduct.
Bhaskaran was subsequently summoned by the Kerala advocate-general CP Sudhakara Prasad to explain his position. A move is reportedly afoot for his dismissal as a government counsel.
Following the allegation that Balakrishnan had sought to intervene in favour of two accused persons believed to be close to former telecom minister A Raja, Justice VR Krishna Iyer told the media that the ex-CJI should immediately quit his NHRC post. Advocates Prashant Bhushan and Fali S Nariman supported the top law expert in this regard.
All the eminent personalities who have demanded Balakrishnan’s resignation have referred to the alleged disproportionate assets of the NHRC chief’s daughter Soni and her husband, Sreenijan, both lawyers. This VIP son-in-law was a Congress candidate during the last Kerala Assembly elections in 2006. He was until recently the state vice president of the Indian Youth Congress.
During the recently concluded Kerala Youth Congress organisational elections, PCC chief Ramesh Chennithala's faction alleged that Sreenijan had spent hundreds of thousands of rupees for ensuring the victory of the faction supported by powerful leader Oommen Chandy. Chandy's blue-eyed boy Vishnunath, MLA, was elected state Youth Congress chief.
It is alleged that the lawyer couple has accumulated properties worth crores of rupees during the last two years. In 2006, in his declaration to the Election Commission, Sreenijan had revealed that his wealth was to the tune of only Rs 25,000. Today he is worth several crores of rupees. He isn’t regarded as a force to reckon with in his professional field. The wealth amassed by him has, therefore, taken the people of Kerala by surprise.
Now, it has come to light that another son-in-law of Balakrishnan’s, MJ Benny, bought properties worth Rs 80 lakh in Tamil Nadu during the NHRC chief’s tenure as CJI. Naturally, public opinion is steadily turning against Balakrishnan, the first Keralite and Dalit to make it to the posts of CJI and NHRC chairman.
Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan, in a surprise move, has instructed home minister (in charge of vigilance) Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to order a probe into the disproportionate assets scandal. Defence minister AK Antony, too, has gone on record to say that the facts of the case should be exposed. He added that if there is evidence against his kin, stringent action should be taken.
The Oommen Chandy faction of the Congress in Kerala has demanded an inquiry into the allegations against Sreenijan. But the fact that has particularly raised eyebrows in the state is the conspicuous silence from the CPI (M) leaders who normally miss no opportunity to swing into action in such situations.
Left leaders here are excessively aggressive in their criticism of sitting judges and their verdicts and do not mind risking contempt proceedings. But when the Sreenijan scandal came to light, they chose to remain tightlipped. If at all the state secretary of DYFI, the youth front of the CPI (M), and a state committee member issued statements to the press on the matter, the party's mouthpiece Deshabhimani blacked them out.
The grapevine has it that Justice Balakrishnan had helped CPI (M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the Supreme Court. The story goes like this: when the Kerala governor gave permission to prosecute Vijayan in the SNC-Lavalin case and it came up before the Supreme Court, the then Registrar had recommended expediting the proceedings so as to help Vijayan’s cause. The Registrar had taken the step allegedly at the behest of Justice Balakrishnan.
Even though Union law minister Veerappa Moily has give a clean chit to Balakrishnan, the number of vocal critics is increasing by the day. VM Sudheeran, considered to be the 'Mr Clean' of Kerala politics, has come out with a suggestion that inquiries should be conducted about the wealth of even retired judges of both high courts and the Supreme Court.
Former NHRC member Sudarshan Agarwal and eminent lawyer Rajiv Dhavan have also sought Balakrishnan's resignation. Even the Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribe Aikya Vedi has made the same demand.
The latest salvo has been fired by Justice VR Krishna Iyer. He has advised Balakrishnan to face an inquiry and come clean on the entire issue. Iyer alleged that an emissary, a judge, had recently approached him on behalf of the former CJI and requested him not to write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek action against Balakrishnan.
Pressure is clearly mounting on Justice Balakrishnan. It is not simply an individual who in the dock. It is the nation's highest seat of justice and the last resort of the common man that is under a shadow. Unless those involved in the mess clear their names, people will lose faith in the judicial system for good.
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The pressure on former SC Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan to step down as NHRC chairman mounts as allegations of unaccounted wealth against his kin become more insistent
The cloud hovering over National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman and former Chief Justice of India (CJI) KG Balakrishnan has just got a bit darker. First it was his alleged covert attempt to influence a high court judge in Tamil Nadu in a bail hearing involving a father and son duo accused in a marks scandal in Puducherry. And now, members of his family are under fire for having amassed wealth beyond their known sources of income during his tenure as CJI.
The NHRC chief’s son-in-law and lawyer PV Sreenijan, who is also a politician, another son-in-law MJ Benny and brother KG Bhaskaran, senior government pleader, are facing charges of financial misconduct.
Bhaskaran was subsequently summoned by the Kerala advocate-general CP Sudhakara Prasad to explain his position. A move is reportedly afoot for his dismissal as a government counsel.
Following the allegation that Balakrishnan had sought to intervene in favour of two accused persons believed to be close to former telecom minister A Raja, Justice VR Krishna Iyer told the media that the ex-CJI should immediately quit his NHRC post. Advocates Prashant Bhushan and Fali S Nariman supported the top law expert in this regard.
All the eminent personalities who have demanded Balakrishnan’s resignation have referred to the alleged disproportionate assets of the NHRC chief’s daughter Soni and her husband, Sreenijan, both lawyers. This VIP son-in-law was a Congress candidate during the last Kerala Assembly elections in 2006. He was until recently the state vice president of the Indian Youth Congress.
During the recently concluded Kerala Youth Congress organisational elections, PCC chief Ramesh Chennithala's faction alleged that Sreenijan had spent hundreds of thousands of rupees for ensuring the victory of the faction supported by powerful leader Oommen Chandy. Chandy's blue-eyed boy Vishnunath, MLA, was elected state Youth Congress chief.
It is alleged that the lawyer couple has accumulated properties worth crores of rupees during the last two years. In 2006, in his declaration to the Election Commission, Sreenijan had revealed that his wealth was to the tune of only Rs 25,000. Today he is worth several crores of rupees. He isn’t regarded as a force to reckon with in his professional field. The wealth amassed by him has, therefore, taken the people of Kerala by surprise.
Now, it has come to light that another son-in-law of Balakrishnan’s, MJ Benny, bought properties worth Rs 80 lakh in Tamil Nadu during the NHRC chief’s tenure as CJI. Naturally, public opinion is steadily turning against Balakrishnan, the first Keralite and Dalit to make it to the posts of CJI and NHRC chairman.
Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan, in a surprise move, has instructed home minister (in charge of vigilance) Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to order a probe into the disproportionate assets scandal. Defence minister AK Antony, too, has gone on record to say that the facts of the case should be exposed. He added that if there is evidence against his kin, stringent action should be taken.
The Oommen Chandy faction of the Congress in Kerala has demanded an inquiry into the allegations against Sreenijan. But the fact that has particularly raised eyebrows in the state is the conspicuous silence from the CPI (M) leaders who normally miss no opportunity to swing into action in such situations.
Left leaders here are excessively aggressive in their criticism of sitting judges and their verdicts and do not mind risking contempt proceedings. But when the Sreenijan scandal came to light, they chose to remain tightlipped. If at all the state secretary of DYFI, the youth front of the CPI (M), and a state committee member issued statements to the press on the matter, the party's mouthpiece Deshabhimani blacked them out.
The grapevine has it that Justice Balakrishnan had helped CPI (M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the Supreme Court. The story goes like this: when the Kerala governor gave permission to prosecute Vijayan in the SNC-Lavalin case and it came up before the Supreme Court, the then Registrar had recommended expediting the proceedings so as to help Vijayan’s cause. The Registrar had taken the step allegedly at the behest of Justice Balakrishnan.
Even though Union law minister Veerappa Moily has give a clean chit to Balakrishnan, the number of vocal critics is increasing by the day. VM Sudheeran, considered to be the 'Mr Clean' of Kerala politics, has come out with a suggestion that inquiries should be conducted about the wealth of even retired judges of both high courts and the Supreme Court.
Former NHRC member Sudarshan Agarwal and eminent lawyer Rajiv Dhavan have also sought Balakrishnan's resignation. Even the Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribe Aikya Vedi has made the same demand.
The latest salvo has been fired by Justice VR Krishna Iyer. He has advised Balakrishnan to face an inquiry and come clean on the entire issue. Iyer alleged that an emissary, a judge, had recently approached him on behalf of the former CJI and requested him not to write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek action against Balakrishnan.
Pressure is clearly mounting on Justice Balakrishnan. It is not simply an individual who in the dock. It is the nation's highest seat of justice and the last resort of the common man that is under a shadow. Unless those involved in the mess clear their names, people will lose faith in the judicial system for good.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM ranks No 1 in International Exposure in the 'Third Mail Today B-School Survey'
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM
IIPM Excom Prof Rajita Chaudhuri
Kapil Sibal’s voters want Jan Lokpal, not Government-proposed Lokpal Bill
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IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
'Thorns to Competition' - You can order your copy online from here
IIPM Mumbai Campus
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