New Delhi: A seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday slapped a contempt notice on Calcutta high court’s Justice C.S. Karnan for his “scurrilous remarks” against judges of the Madras high court and the apex court and restrained him from any judicial or administrative work with immediate effect.
The bench — comprising Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justices Dipak Misra, J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur, Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Kurian Joseph — directed the personal presence of Justice Karnan before it on February 13.
This is the first time in the country’s history that seven senior-most Supreme Court judges, led by the Chief Justice of India, convened in open court suo motu contempt proceedings against a sitting high court judge.
The Supreme Court bench passed the order after hearing attorney general Mukul Rohatgi in a jam-packed court. Mr Rohatgi had called for stringent action against the judge for writing “very, very scurrilous” letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other high Constitutional dignitaries, accusing judges of corruption and caste bias as he hails from SC community.
The court in its order said, “Justice C.S. Karnan shall forthwith refrain from handling any judicial or administrative work as may have been assigned to him. He is also directed to return all judicial and administrative files in his possession to the registrar general Calcutta high court immediately. Justice C.S. Karnan shall remain present in person on February 13 to show cause (why contempt action should not be initiated against him).”
The high court chief justice has been asked to relieve him of all work.
In his submissions, Mr Rohatgi said, “These communications are completely scurrilous, completely calculated to destabilise administration of justice whether it is against a retired judge, high court judges, sitting judge from Supreme Court; nature of allegations are very, very disparaging. Very, very scurrilous...”
Mr Rohatgi argued that the apex court was not only empowered to punish for contempt of itself, but also for contempt of any other court in the country.
According to the AG, this was a case for summary trial as the letters purportedly addressed by Justice Karnan were sufficient enough to hold the judge guilty for contempt.
“The idea is the letters should be made public... This court must also set an example so that the citizen is made aware that this court will not hesitate to act even against judges,” the AG said.
The CJI cautioned the AG by saying whether the letters purportedly written by Justice Karnan were actually not his letters. If he denies it, then it will change the whole situation,” the CJI said.
In 2016, Justice Karnan, who was posted in Madras high court, was transferred to Calcutta HC after he cast aspersions on many judges and even ordered a CBI probe against Madras HC’s Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.
He then stayed his transfer order, forcing the Supreme Court to authorise a freeze on his functions as a judge. Later, he wrote to the Chief Justice of India, acknowledging that he had passed an “erroneous order due to his mental frustration resulting in loss of mental balance.”
Also, the Madras high court had filed an application in the Supreme Court alleging that Justice Karnan has in his possession 12 files that have to be returned to the court.
In June 2013, Justice Karnan had passed a order that ruled that if a couple of legal age indulged in sexual gratification, it would be considered as a legal marriage and they would be termed as husband and wife. Following an uproar, he passed another order putting a gag on everyone from making adverse comments.
