Justice Dinakaran’s wife appears before panel

By G Saravanan
Published on Feb 16:

TIRUVALLUR: Even though the three-member Survey of India team allotted two hours to the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran to present his version of a case in which he faces serious allegations of land encroachment at Kaverirajapuram, Justice Dinkaran did not show up. Instead, it was his wife Dr Vinodhini who appeared before the panel here on Monday.

The team of officials is camping in Thiruvalangadu, to finalise the mapping process of the disputed stretches of land, allegedly encroached upon by Justice Dinakaran.

It is learnt that Dr Vinodhini submitted documents to the Survey of India officials and claimed that her family was innocent.
Meanwhile, police stationed at the site prevented the media from speaking to Dr Vinodhini when she left the venue after deposing before the team.

The hide-and-seek drama between the police and the media was played once again when Tiruvallur District Collector V Palanikumar reached the spot to present the district administration’s version of the encroachment allegations.
The media was once again prevented from geeting close to him and he was literally whisked away by police through a backdoor after presenting documents showing the alleged encroachments by Dinakaran.

In a related development, a group of local people from Kaverirajapuram who were denied an opportunity to meet the official team to present their views on the encroachment, charged that the team was favouring Justice Dinakaran and that this veil of secrecy indicated it.

The enquiry should be public, and not allowing local people to present their details of the encroachment shows the team’s biased approach, a local told Express.