Police hunt for Justice Karnan with no luck

CHENNAI: Police continued to hunt for Calcutta High Court judge Justice C S Karnan, sentenced to six months jail by the Supreme Court for contempt, for the third day today but without any luck.

The Kolkata police, which has been instructed by the apex court to execute its order, stayed put in Chennai to take him into custody before he could be forwarded to jail for serving the sentence.

The team comprises officials of Kolkata police, including a DGP rank officer, Chennai police sources said, adding the whereabouts of Karnan were not known.

Karnan had yesterday moved the Supreme Court seeking recall of its order holding him guilty of contempt of court and sentencing him to a six-month imprisonment.

The seven-judge bench of the apex court had passed the order on May 9, a day after he defiantly ordered eight apex court judges, including the Chief Justice of India, to be put behind bars.

However, before the apex court pronounced the order, he had left Kolkata for Chennai.

Justice Karnan, who has been on a warpath with the Supreme Court for last several months, is the first sitting judge of a high court to be ordered jailed. He is due to retire next month.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court said a "conscious decision" was taken by seven of its judges to sentence Justice Karnan to six months imprisonment.

"The seven judges assembled to take a conscious decision," a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said.

The CJI made the remarks while he was sitting with four other judges hearing the issue of triple talaq.

He made the statement when advocate Mathews J Nedumpara, on behalf of Justice Karnan, mentioned the plea for recall of the May 9 order when the bench had come to the dais after lunch to hear the triple talaq matter.