Judge Karnan in Coimbatore, Tuesday. (PTI Photo)
More than a month after the Supreme Court sentenced him to six months imprisonment for contempt of court, former Calcutta High Court judge C S Karnan was arrested Tuesday night by the West Bengal CID from a guest house in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
“Justice Karnan has been arrested. He will be brought to Kolkata via Chennai tomorrow morning and he will be put in Presidency Jail,” ADG (CID) Rajesh Kumar told The Indian Express.
Sixty-two-year-old Karnan, who retired on June 12, had been evading arrest ever since the May 9 Supreme Court order — the first of its kind against a serving high court judge.
Police sources said his location was traced to a guest house attached to a private educational institution at Malumichampatti on Pollachi high road near Coimbatore. He tried to resist arrest when the officers landed there.
Last month, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, had asked the West Bengal DGP to take Karnan into custody — he had been at loggerheads with the Supreme Court for several months. The bench also barred the media from publishing or reporting the orders passed by Karnan.
Following the order, Karnan tried to get relief from the top court but failed. The Supreme Court refused to hear his plea seeking a stay on its jail term order.