Karnan brought to Kolkata, taken to Presidency jail

A day after the arrest of former Calcutta High Court judge C S Karnan, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain his plea for interim bail and suspension of the six-month sentence awarded to him for contempt of court.

The apex court said it was duty-bound by the seven- judge bench's order in the case and "cannot override it".

"The matter has been heard by a seven-judge bench and order has been passed. The order is binding on us. We in vacation cannot override it. It is nothing we can do," a vacation bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul said.

Karnan was on Wednesday brought here from Chennai and taken to the Presidency Correctional home (jail).

A team of state CID officers brought him by an Air India flight, a senior police officer said.

Karnan, who had been evading arrest since the May 9 Supreme Court order awarding a six-month jail term, was arrested Tuesday night by a team of West Bengal CID from a private resort at Malumichampatti, about six km from Coimbatore, where he was "hiding" for the past few days.

"His medical tests were completed at the airport and he was taken straightaway to the jail", the officer said.

Tight security arrangements were made at the airport where senior police officers, including Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, were present.

The former high court judge was brought to Chennai from Coimbatore by a private airline past midnight on Tuesday and later accommodated in the retiring room in the airport complex amid tight security.

Three police teams from Kolkata were camping in Coimbatore and traced Karnan on the basis of his mobile phone calls with the Tamil Nadu Police providing technical support to trace his whereabouts, a senior local police officer had said.

Karnan, who earned the dubious distinction of being the first sitting high court judge to be awarded a jail term by the apex court, had retired from service on June 12 as a fugitive.

Later on Wednesday evening he was taken to a state-run hospital when he complained of chest pain.

"Karnan complained of chest pain at the airport itself.

He was checked by our doctors there and then brought to the Presidency Correctional home where he complained that his chest pain had aggravated," a senior official at the Presidency Correctional home (jail) said.