Bhaskaran, brother of KGB quits as government pleader

KOCHI: K G Bhaskaran, brother of the beleaguered former Chief Justice of India Justice K G Balakrishnan has resigned as Special Government Pleader in the Kerala High Court amid charges of amassing wealth disproportionate to his known source of income.Mr. Bhaskaran has however cited health problems for putting in his papers. He is the second member in the family of the former Chief Justice who is resigning their posts in the backdrop of financial allegations. Earlier P V Sreenijan, Balakrishnan's son-in-law, quit Youth Congress on similar charges. Advocate General of Kerala CP Sudhakara Prasad had earlier asked Mr. Bhaskaran either to quit as special government pleader or to go on leave, when the charges surfaced. "Initially Mr. Bhaskaran had applied for one month leave and thatwas forwarded to the government. Now he has submitted his resignation, and thathas also been faxed to the Government, for acceptance,'' Mr. Sudhakara Prasadtold TOI. Mr. Bhaskaran was not available immediately for comments,and he was not returning calls.However, there are reports sayingthat Mr. Bhaskaran had told a news agency that he was being treated by doctorsof the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for respiratory problems andwould be leaving for Delhi for further treatment. He denied that hehad consulted Justice Balakrishnan before putting in his papers. However, hesaid Justice Balakrishnan had two months ago advised him to resign as he was notkeeping good health. Interestingly, Mr. Bhaskaran who was lookingafter various cases of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, was appointed asgovernment pleader by the previous Congress-led UDF government, and continued inthe post even under the CPI(M)-led LDF regime. Meanwhile the BarAssociations of Thrissur and Kozhikode have passed resolutions demandingresignation of Justice Balakrishnan from the post of National Human RightsCommission Chairman.The SC/ST all India Confederation, on the otherside, came out in support of Justice Balakrishnan, saying there was a conspiracybehind the concerted attack on him. "The campaign against Balakrishnan is partof a conspiracy by forces that seek to resist the ascension of persons belongingto SC/ST sections to high posts in the country," K Ramankutty, president, SC/STall India Confederation said at a press conference inThiruvananthapuram.In another development, senior advocate of KochiBar K Ramakumar has sent in a legal notice of defamation against former SupremeCourt Judge Justice V R Krishna Iyer in connection with the ongoingcontroversies centered around Justice Balakrishnan. While Justice Iyer hadlaunched a scanting attack on Justice Balakrishnan, Mr. Ramakumar said he was`upholding the right of the former Chief Justice of India not to be a softtarget of scurrilous attack on mere rumours, suspicion, speculation and privateconversations'. Justice Krishna Iyer had also "made an unfounded and recklessallegation that Mr. Ramakumar's support to former Chief Justice of India isanother story of corruption,'' says the legal notice.Mr. Ramakumarhad demanded an unconditional apology from Justice Iyer and a compensation of Rs1 crore for the damage caused by the allegations.