Retired High Court Judge CS Karnan was arrested after six months of the Supreme Court order for contempt of court. The Judge, who retired last week, was arrested today at by the West Bengal Police in Coimbatore. He will be brought to Chennai tonight, and then to Kolkata tomorrow. He would be there put in Presidency Jail. When an officer of Criminal Investigation Department of West Bengal Police was asked if the Judge would be produced in Court in Kolkata, the officer was reported to have said there was no question of producing him in front of the court as the Supreme Court had already ordered a jail term of six months for him.
Retired Justice Karnan has alleged that he is being victimized cause he is a Dalit. However, the Supreme Court has ordered to get his “mental health” examined before it ordered his arrest on May 9. Karnan, 62, is the first ever sitting high court judge to have had an arrest warrant issued against and sentenced to a jail term. When Karnan was transferred last year from Chennai to Kolkata, he had written to the Prime Minister as well as the President in January accusing several judges of corruption.
Thus the Supreme Court had issued a suo-moto contempt case against him. Karnan was summoned to appear before a seven-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, Justice JS Khehar. The apex court had ordered Calcutta High Court to not assign any case to him as well as not recognise his orders.
However, it was then followed by an extraordinary sequence of events. Karnan issued a counter order for every order issued by Supreme Court. The order – counter order ordeal got to a point where Karnan passed an order for the arrest of top judges. He refused to undergo any mental health tests stating he was fine, he was normal. The events finally ended with Supreme Court ordering his arrest, Karnan flew off to Chennai before the West Bengal police could catch him. Karnan held a press meet there and then disappeared. A police team from Kolkata stayed in Chennai for weeks to find him, but in vain. Even his associates didn’t divulge any information.
Finally, earlier today, he was tracked down to Coimbatore and arrested by the West Bengal Police with help from Tamilnadu police. One of the biggest scandals in Indian Judicial History has been put to rest for now.
