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Justice Karnan starts 6-month jail term

Jail officials said that Karnan would not get any extra privileges

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Former Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan was on Wednesday lodged in a Kolkata jail even as he failed to get any last-minute reprieve from the SC after being on the run for six weeks.

After his arrest from Coimbatore on Tuesday, Karnan was brought to Kolkata on Wednesday amidst heavy 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."

Dressed in a full-sleeved white shirt and pants, Karnan came out of the airport escorted by policemen in civil dress.

He was whisked off by the police when reporters tried to approach him.

At 3.20 pm, he was takento Presidency Correctional Home where he would be serving a jail term of six months, according to the Supreme Court order.

Jail officials said that Karnan would not get any extra privileges. "His safety and security inside the jail would be ensured, but, as per the statute, there cannot be any other privilege for him," said Sivaji Ghosh, Principal Secretary, Department of Correctional Administration.

Sources in Presidency Correctional Home said that Karnan had complained of health issues. State Correctional Administration Minister Ujjal Biswas while 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," Biswas said.

Asked if he would be given any special privilege to Karnan in his capacity as a retired judge, Biswas said, "The conditions inside the jail have been improved and are 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 to him."

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 it".

In New Delhi, the apex court while rejecting Karnan's bail plea said it was duty-bound by the seven- judge bench's order in the case and "cannot override it." "The matter has been heard by a seven-judge bench and order has been passed. The order is binding on us. We in vacation cannot override it. It is nothing we can do," a vacation bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul said.

Karnan had been evading arrest since May 9 when a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court directed the West Bengal Police chief to take him into their custody.

(With agency inputs)

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