Iyer targets PM for silence on Balakrishnan

NEW DELHI: Former Supreme Court judge VR Krishna Iyer has now turned his guns on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his silence on the allegations against former SC CJI KG Balakrishnan. Iyer told reporters on Sunday that he was baffled by the PM’s stoic silence on the issue.

Iyer said Justice V Giri had approached him last year at Balakrishnan’s behest. “Do you know that it was Justice V Giri, who resigned last year from the Kerala High Court, who had come to meet me with a plea that I should not write about the Balakrishnan issue to the prime minister,” Iyer said. “I told him now that a lot has been written about the issue in the media, there is no purpose for my letter and so I will not write again to the prime minister,” he said.

After Iyer took up the issue, Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan ordered vigilance probe against Balakrishnan’s son-in-law PV Srinijin, a former Youth Congress leader. He quit the party after the allegations surfaced. There have been similar allegations against NHRC Chairman Balakrishnan’s brother KG Bhaskaran . This forced Bhaskaran to resign from the post of special government counsel.