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Justice Karnan dares SC to send him to jail, says won’t appear at next hearing
Karnan, who is Dalit, had accused several judges of the Madras high court and an SC judge of corruption, nepotism and casteism.
Controversial Calcutta high court judge CS Karnan appeared in the Supreme Court on Friday in a contempt case after weeks of unprecedented public confrontation with the country’s top court.
Karnan – who is Dalit -- hit the headlines for accusing several judges of the Madras high court, where he earlier served, and a SC judge of corruption, nepotism and casteism. He also repeatedly rejected the top court’s summons in a contempt case.
On Friday, Karnan appeared combative and even dared the SC to send him to jail, saying he would not personally appear on the next date. His comment came after the apex court said it would not restore judicial work to Karnan.
“I am also holding constitutional post. My dignity has been hurt and work has been taken away without hearing me,” Karnan told the court.
The SC had on February 8 issued a contempt notice to the judge and asked Karnan to be personally present before the top court on February 13.
But Karnan did not obey the court order and failed to appear. Instead, he wrote a letter questioning the contempt proceedings against him. According to the judge, only Parliament had the power to initiate action against a sitting high court judge by way of an impeachment motion.
“The characteristic of this order clearly shows the upper caste judges are taking law into their hands and misusing their judicial power by operating the same against a SC/ST Judge with mala fide intention of getting rid of him. Therefore, the suo motu contempt order dated 08.02.2017 is not sustainable under law,” Karnan had said.