Karnan in Kolkata jail, fails to get SC reprieve
KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: Former Calcutta HC judge C S Karnan was on Wednesday lodged in a Kolkata jail even as he failed to get any last-minute reprieve from the SC after being on the run for six weeks. Karnan, who was arrested in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, earned the dubious distinction of being the first sitting high court judge to be sent to jail.
KOLKATA: At 3.15pm on Wednesday, a white Scorpio whizzed past mediapersons gathered outside the historic Presidency Correctional Home, previously known as Presidency Jail.
Inside the SUV was a special prisoner who was to serve a sixmonth sentence ordered by the SC. For retired Calcutta high court judge CS Karnan, it was the first day behind the high walls. He became India’s first high court judge to land in jail on charges of contempt of court, while being on duty. Karnan officially retired from service on June 12.
Earlier in the morning, a Supreme Court vacation bench comprising justice DY Chandrachud and justice SK Kaul rejected Karnan’s bail plea and refused to suspend the sentence.
The retired judge was flown to Kolkata at 2pm from Chennai.
He was absconding for almost a month and was arrested by a Bengal police team from Coimbatore on Tuesday. His medical check-up — a mandatory procedure — was conducted at the NSC Bose international airport compound. At the airport, the 62-year-old mumbled something before journalists but most of what he said remained inaudible.
Karnan was sentenced by a seven-judge bench of the SC on May 9 for ‘contempt of court’.
When Karnan was brought to the jail, police had put up special barricades to ensure that none of the people who were waiting to meet other inmates could come close to the vehicle. However, those waiting outside the jail had no idea that a judge would now share the prison roof with about 2,000 undertrials and convicts.