Supreme Court Sentences Justice Karnan to 6 Months Imprisonment

A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar has sentenced the Calcutta High Court judge, Justice C S Karnan to six months of imprisonment for repeated incidents of contempt of court. This is the first time that the Supreme Court has sent a high court judge to jail on charges of contempt. Further, the bench also comprising Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur, P C Ghose and Kurian Joseph has prohibited media, both print and electronic from publishing any further orders if any passed by Justice Karnan.

Background

The Supreme Court bench headed by chief justice of India J.S. Khehar in February issued a contempt notice to Justice C S Karnan who had accused several judges of corruption, nepotism and casteism. On 1 March, the Supreme Court had ordered the Calcutta government hospital to constitute a medical board to examine the medical condition of Justice Karnan and submit a report to the court. However, Justice Karnan refused to undergo medical tests in compliance with courts’ orders. Instead, he sentenced eight judges of the Supreme Court to five years of “rigorous imprisonment” and imposed a fine of Rs1,00,000 each under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 and the amended Act of 2015.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017