Kolkata police reach Chennai to arrest High Court Judge Karnan

A Kolkata police team reached here on Wednesday to arrest Calcutta High Court Judge Justice C S Karnan, a day after the Supreme Court of India sentenced him to six months' jail in a contempt case. According to unconfirmed reports, Justice Karnan was not in Tamil Nadu but at Srikalahasthi in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

He was expected to return to Chennai on Wednesday evening. The judge was staying at a guest house after he arrived here on Tuesday before the apex court delivered its verdict. Later, he addressed the media in his room.

The Kolkata police have spoken to their Tamil Nadu counterparts on executing the arrest order, the local police said. As a group of advocates protested outside the state guest house, alleging that Justice Karnan was being victimised, the police said they had closed the main gate to the state guest house to forestall trouble. This is the first time that a sitting high court judge has been awarded a jail sentence by the SC on charges of contempt.