After Shanti Bhushan had protested the inclusion of P.P. Rao in the committee inquiring into the various allegations levelled at Justice Dinakaran, son and Convenor of the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reform, Prashant Bhushan has written to the Vice President Hamid Ansari about the inclusion of Justice Sirpurkar and the Senior Counsel.

In his letter, a copy of which is available here, Prashant Bhushan has pointed out the flaws at the procedure in which the committee was appointed. In the strongly worded letter, Bhushan makes it clear that the Vice President has erred in seeking the recommendation of the Chief Justice on the appointment of the committee.

"We find that there is no requirement under the Judges Inquiry Act 1968 to consult the Chief Justice in the appointment of the Inquiry Committee. Moreover, in this case, the appointment of members on the advise of the Chief Justice would be inappropriate since the Chief Justice had not only recommended Justice Dinakaran's name for appointment to the Supreme Court, but he has also been consistently defending him, even after the motion for his removal has been admitted by you," says Bhushan in his letter.

Bhushan has argued that Justice Sirpurkar has 'told several responsible lawyers' that Justice Dinakaran was an independently wealthy person, and that Justice Sirpurkar knew him well. Bhushan believes that Justice Sirpurkar's friendship coupled with his having prejudged the issue would allow scope for controversy to arise later.

Again touching the issue of P.P. Rao having been formally consulted earlier in the Justice Dinakaran matter, Bhushan has sought the Vice President to explore the possibility for their recusal to avoid controversy in the future.