After evading arrest since May 10 after the Supreme Court sentenced him to six months in jail for contempt, former Calcutta High Court Judge CS Karnan was finally arrested on Tuesday from Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore. The 62-year-old was nabbed by a joint team of West Bengal Police and Tamil Nadu Police, and taken to Chennai.
"Karnan was staying at an apartment in Madukarai near Coimbatore. We provided technical assistance to West Bengal Police and they arrested him from the apartment," A Amalraj, City Commissioner of Police (Coimbatore), told media.
Karnan was found guilty of contempt for hurling corruption charges against Supreme Court judges including the Chief Justice. However, his whereabouts had remained a mystery till Tuesday.
According to reports, Karnan resisted arrest and argued with the police team before he was eventually taken into custody.
Justice (Retd.) Karnan arrested by Police in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), confirms his lawyer Peter Ramesh pic.twitter.com/HLkXNgHszx
— ANI (@ANI_news) June 20, 2017
The Supreme Court had sentenced Karnan to six months in jail on May 9. The order came after Karnan "sentenced" Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and six other Supreme Court judges to five years imprisonment after he "found them guilty" under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Atrocities Act, 1989, and the amended Act of 2015.
Karnan had become the first sitting judge in the history of Indian judiciary to get jail. He was also the first High Court judge to retire while still absconding.
A team of West Bengal Police was in Chennai and other places in Tamil Nadu looking for him for the past one month.
Reacting to the situation, senior counsel and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Dushyant Dave told IANS that "it reflects the failure on the part of the police in not having found him. It shows a complete lack of respect for the Supreme Court by the Executive."
"Right or wrong the Supreme Court judgment has to be implemented and the state is fully responsible for the lapses and must be held accountable," Dave said, pointing out that "The whole saga reflects the sorry state of affairs in the judiciary."
