Justice Karnan Sentenced To 6 Months In Jail By Supreme Court
Karnan, 59, is the first sitting HC judge to be convicted of contempt and sent to prison.
Justice CS Karnan was today sentenced to six months jail by the Supreme Court, which held him guilty of contempt and ordered the Kolkata police chief to arrest him.
Karnan, 59, is the first sitting HC judge to be convicted of contempt and sent to prison. A seven-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar passed the order.
The seven-judge bench had earlier given Justice Karnan four weeks to respond to the contempt notice. While appeared before the apex court on March 31, becoming the first HC judge to do so in Indian history, he refused to abide by any of its order including taking a medical test.
Justice Karnan had issued a suo motu order against seven judges, directing them to "appear" before him on April 28 for "violating" Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. They did not appear before him.
On Monday, Karnan had sentenced Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and seven other SC judges to five-year rigorous imprisonment after holding them guilty under the SC/ST Atrocities Act-1989 and amended Act of 2015.
In his order, Justice Karnan imposed sentences of five years each and a fine of Rs one lakh on three counts, under sub-sections (1)(m), (1)(r) and (1)(u) of Section 3 of the SC/ST Atrocities Act.
Justice Karnan directed that all the three sentences would run concurrently and said that if the fines were not paid, they would "undergo further six months of imprisonment."
