Supreme Court rejects Justice Karnan’s demand to let him get back to work
Dismissing the attorney general’s argument, the bench held that the Calcutta High Court judge was not in a clear state of mind.
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan’s demand to be allowed to discharge his judicial duties. Karnan had asked the court to restore his work or risk him losing his “normal senses”. The high court justice, who appeared before a seven-judge bench in connection with the contempt charges he is facing for degrading the judiciary, refused to apologise for the corruption allegations he made.
The 61-year-old also declared that he will not appeared before court again and challenged the bench to send him to jail, NDTV reported. “I am not a terrorist or an anti-social element for the police to come knocking on my door,” he said, in reference to the Supreme Court-issued bailable warrant delivered to him by senior police officers on March 17.
The top judiciary dismissed Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi’s argument that Justice Karnan was aware of his actions, and that there was “no question of non-comprehension”. The bench held that the high court judge was not in a clear state of mind and gave him four weeks to file a response to his allegations against senior judges.
Justice Karnan has been in the news since February 8 after the apex court issued a contempt notice against him for accusing several Supreme Court and high court judges of corruption. He had accused the top court of being “anti-Dalit” for issuing the notice against him and claimed that its order was “unethical” and a violation of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of) Atrocities Act.
Karnan had also demanded Rs 14 crore from Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and six other senior judges as compensation for “disturbing his mind and normal life”.