The State Government and the legal community on Friday heaved a sigh of relief when news of the transfer of the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, P.D. Dinakaran, was communicated to them.
Justice Dinakaran has been in the eye of a storm ever since allegations of land grabbing and corruption have been levelled against him. He has not been sitting on the judicial side since December 2009 as advocates in Bangalore have joined hands with their counterparts in Chennai and Delhi in protesting against Justice Dinakaran.
The officials of the High Court and a large section of the advocates too were a relieved lot as they felt that the Collegium of the Supreme Court had done the right thing in transferring Justice Dinakaran as Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court.
They hoped that the incumbent Chief Justice, Madan Lokur of Delhi would take charge as the Chief Justice as expeditiously as possible. They regretted that administrative work in the High court had been affected due to the stand off between the judges and the advocates. They hoped that the rift between the Bar and the Bench would heal once Justice Dinakaran leaves.
Several senior designated advocates hoped that with the departure of Justice Dinakaran, the strained relationship between the advocates and judges would become a thing of the past.
The Chairman of the Karnataka State Bar Council and senior advocate, Jayakumar S.Patil, termed the Collegium decision as the right Constitutional move. He said the earlier decision of the Collegium asking Mr. Dinakaran to go on leave was not constitutionally appropriate.
The president of the Advocates Association of Bangalore, K.N. Putte Gowda, welcomed the transfer and said it is the right decision.
The convenor of the State level Committee for Judicial Accountability, Sadashiva Reddy, said the transfer is belated move and that this step should have been taken months ago.
He said the reputation of the judiciary in the State was tarnished as the Supreme Court Collegium had delayed in taking a firm stand on the Dinakaran episode.
Advocate-General, Ashok Harnahalli, said the High Court would be getting a working Chief Justice after almost five months.
The president of the Federation of Bar Associations in Karnataka, K.N. Subba Reddy also welcomed the transfer and hoped that the court work would not go on smoothly. Meanwhile, the High court is now getting ready to welcome Justice Lokur and give a send off to Justice Dinakaran.
