Former Calcutta High Court Judge CS Karnan’s legal team has filed a petition asking new President Ram Nath Kovind to suspend or reduce his six-month prison sentence in his contempt of court case, ANI reported on Tuesday. Karnan’s lawyer, AC Philip, said they had emailed the petition with a hope that Karnan’s plea was the first to reach the newly appointed president.

The legal team is trying to convince Kovind to use his presidential powers to “recall/review” the Supreme Court’s sentence in the case until the next hearing. “We tried to get an appointment today with the President or his secretary but were told that it will not be possible due to the [president’s] swearing-in ceremony,” Philip told The Hindu. The team will attempt to secure an appointment for Wednesday and have mailed a hard copy of the petition to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

On June 21, the Supreme Court had refused to suspend Karnan’s jail term and maintained that he must serve the entire sentence.

Karnan, who had been absconding since May 9, was apprehended on June 20 from a house in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. To escape arrest, he had checked into resorts under false names and switched cellphones to avoid being tracked, according to NDTV.

The 62-year-old’s term as a High Court judge ended while he had evaded arrest. The Supreme Court convicted him of contempt for accusing top court judges of corruption, but Karnan has maintained that he was being targeted for being a Dalit. The apex court bench had also questioned Karnan’s mental health on multiple occasions.