Pressure on govt to probe charges against former CJI kin

NEW DELHI: Pressure is piling up on the government for ordering a probe into the charges of corruption against the family members of former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan.

After Justice VR Krishna Iyer wrote to Balakrishnan asking him to resign as the head of the National Human Rights Commission, veteran lawyer Fali S Nariman said that a probe was essential to set things right in higher judiciary.

In a letter to Iyer, Nariman said that his “prompt and pithily devastating remarks on the conduct of NHRC chairman deserves special rounds of applause. This is just to tell you that we all are deeply beholden to you for always reminding judges, past and present, that honour comes first.”

Iyer had on December 27 demanded an investigation into how Balakrishnan's son-in-law PV Srinijan, a Congress leader and a lawyer, had acquired huge wealth in the past three years. Since then, reports of large scale amassment of wealth by Balakrishnan's kin have appeared in the media.

According to reports, Srinijan had within a span of four years purchased flats, landed properties in prime locations in various parts of Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, which are at present valued at over `7 crore.

“The media has disclosed now that the son-in-law and daughter have amassed wealth under suspicious circumstances indirectly due to dubious linkage with the Chief Justice. This is atrocious and must be inquired into,” Iyer had said.