Justice Karnan was arrested from Coimbatore on Tuesday.
After his arrest from Coimbatore on Tuesday, former Calcutta High Court judge Justice (retd) Karnan was brought to Kolkata on Wednesday amidst heavy police security.
His flight touched down at about 2 pm on Wednesday. Once out of the airport the 62-year-old retired judge was not his usual vocal self who would interact with media persons and answer every query with a smile. Instead, he wore a dazed look and kept on saying, “I am not well.” “We arrested him from Coimbatore based on our source information. He had been staying in Kerala and Chennai. A medical check up has been done and he would be taken to Presidency Correctional Home from here,” said a senior police official who escorted him at the airport.
At 3.20 pm he was brought to Presidency Correctional Home and the police vehicle sped inside to prevent any comments of the retired judge to the battery of reporters waiting outside the jail main gate. He would be serving a term of six months according to the Supreme Court order. His plea for an anticipatory bail has also been turned down by the apex court.
Jail officials said that Karnan would not get any extra privilege. “His safety and security inside the jail would be ensured but as per the statute there cannot be any other privilege for them,” said Sivaji Ghosh, principal secretary, department of Correctional Administration.
Sources inside Presidency Correctional Home said that Karnan had complained of health issues. Karnan was taken to the state-run SSKM hospital at about 8 pm after he complained of a chest pain. From the emergency ward he was taken to the cardiology department where a battery of tests was run on him. Doctors found no abnormality and later at about 10 pm he was released and taken back to Presidency Correctional Home.
State Correctional Administration minister Ujjal Biswas, talking to DNA referred to Karnan as a ‘guest’. “He is our guest now and would be taken care of. The doctors are checking him and if they refer him to the jail hospital he would be kept there,” he said. Asked if he would be given any special privilege as a retired judge, Biswas said, “The conditions inside the jail had been done up thoroughly and is very good now. He will not serve a rigorous imprisonment. We will not be able to give him an air conditioner but the walls are high enough and airy. There will be a television set provided.”
He also said that under normal circumstances jail inmates are not allowed to have home cooked food but “in this case if we receive a request from his end, we might consider his case”. Karnan had been evading arrest since May 9 when a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court directed the DGP of West Bengal to take Karnan into their custody.
With PTI inputs
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