Esteemed Indians seek ouster of former chief justice

A group of former judges, bureaucrats and social activists on Monday asked India's president to push for a Supreme Court inquiry into the “misbehavior” of National Human Rights Commission chairman K G Balakrishnan during his tenure as chief justice, reports the Indian Express.

The request comes in the wake of a long battle between the judiciary and anti-corruption crusaders in which the court has argued that its members are above suspicion and therefore their financial dealings and other affairs should not be subject to the Right to Information Act.

Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), whose patrons include Justice V R Krishna Iyer, Justice P B Sawant and former law minister Shanti Bhushan, has also written an identical letter to PM Manmohan Singh against Justice Balakrishnan, seeking steps to remove him from office, the paper reported.

Media reports have claimed that Balakrishnan acquired various properties and assets off the books during his term as chief justice, amassing great wealth in the names of his daughters, sons-in-law and brother.