Former Calcutta HC judge Karnan released from jail

Former Calcutta High Court judge C S Karnan was released from jail on Wednesday after he  completed his six-month sentence for contempt of court. The sentence was awarded by the Supreme Court in May.

Karnan left the Presidency Correctional Home premises around 11 am, his wife Saraswati Karnan said.

His wife and elder son, who arrived here last night fromChennai, accompanied him. Karnan was arrested from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu on June 20 after he had evaded the police for over a month.

The apex court had sentenced him to six months jail for contempt of court on May 9. Karnan was a serving judge of the Calcutta High Court at that time. He is the first sitting high court judge to have been

sentenced to jail.

Karnan's lawyer Mathew J Nedampura said the former judge planned to write an autobiography. The former Calcutta High Court judge will be in the city for a few days after which he will leave for Chennai.

A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by former chief justice of India J S Khehar, had asked the West Bengal director general of police (DGP) to take Karnan, who was on a warpath with the apex court for months, into custody.

The Supreme Court had earlier issued a bailable warrant against the judge to secure his presence before it in connection with the contempt case. Karnan had appeared before the apex court on March 31, a

first in the country's judicial history, and asked for restoration of his powers as a pre-condition for his re

appearance, but the plea was rejected. 

Karnan, who had enrolled himself as an advocate with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu in 1983, was appointed a judge of the Madras High Court in 2009. He was transferred to the Calcutta High Court on March 11, 2016.

He was transferred from the Madras High Court for his repeated allegations against and run-ins with the then chief justice and fellow judges of the court.