Karnan gets 6-month jail for contempt

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 9

The Supreme Court today convicted controversial Calcutta High Court Judge CS Karnan of contempt and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment “forthwith”. 

Taking note of his series of orders against apex court Judges, a seven-Judge Bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar held that his conduct amounted to the “gravest” nature of contempt. “We are of the unanimous opinion that Justice CS Karnan has committed contempt of this court, of the judiciary as also the judicial process... of the gravest nature,” the Bench said, directing the West Bengal Director General of Police to execute the order “forthwith”.

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Justice Karnan is in Chennai and will return to Kolkata after two days, sources said.

Justice Karnan is the first sitting High Court Judge to be convicted of contempt of court and given a prison sentence. In view of his utterances against the Judges, the top court restrained the media from reporting his statements.

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The Supreme Court had earlier restrained all courts, tribunals, commissions and authorities from acting on the orders passed by Justice Karnan, including the one asking the top court Judges to appear before him. Justice Karnan had yesterday passed bizarre orders against the Judges hearing the contempt case,   “convicting” them of various offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, “awarding” them five-year imprisonment.  

Suspecting that he was mentally unfit, the SC had on May 1 set up a medical board to examine him. He refused to cooperate, insisting he was “perfectly fine.”

The Bench said Justice Karnan could be punished as he himself had declared that he was of a sound mind. “We are assured that he is fit and fine…and the medical board does not contradict it,” the Bench, also comprising Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur, PC Ghose and Kurian Joseph, said.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the West Bengal Government, requested the court to drop contempt charges, saying the judiciary was getting a bad name. Senior advocate KK Venugopal, who appeared for the Registrar General of the Madras HC, said Justice Karnan should be sent to jail after he retired in June. The Additional Solicitor General and SC Bar Association chief backed the view that he must be punished. “Contempt is contempt... whether you are a common man or a judge,” the Bench said.