Justice Karnan, who was staying at Government Guest House in Chennai, was not present there when a Kolkata police team arrived here to arrest him a day after the Apex court order.
Where is Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan? Police forces of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are on the lookout for Justice Karnan, who was sentenced to six months in prison by the Supreme Court for contempt and has disappeared from the police radar on Wednesday.
Justice Karnan, who was staying at Government Guest House in Chennai, was not present there when a Kolkata police team arrived here to arrest him a day after the Apex court order.
According to police sources, Justice Karnan had left for Srikalahasti temple in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, about 120 kilometres from Chennai, on Wednesday early morning. The judge has sent back his personnel security and the car before leaving to the temple, the Chennai city police said, adding that he had left to the temple town in a private car.
After holding a discussion with Chennai city police commissioner, the five-member Kolkata police team headed by West Bengal DGP DGP Surajit Kar Purkayastha along with Tamil Nadu police have rushed to the temple town in Chittoor district to take custody of the judge, police said. As the judge could not be traced in the temple, the police team also stopped at Tada, on the way back to Chennai, enquired at few hotels. Curiously, the police suspicion grew further after the judge's mobile phone was switched off.
Sources in the Guest House at Chepauk here said that the judge had not vacated the room. He had told them that he would return in the evening. As a group of advocates protested outside the State Guest House, alleging that Justice Karnan was being victimised, the police said they had closed the main gate of the Guest House to forestall any trouble. Police protection has been given to the Guest House.
After the Apex Court order, Justice Karnan, who will be retiring next month, addressed a news conference here but it was not reported because of the court's order restraining media from reporting any of his statements.
This is the first time that a sitting high court judge has been awarded a jail sentence by the apex court on the contempt charge. A seven-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar had also disallowed the media, both the print and the electronic, from publishing or airing the contents of further orders passed by Justice Karnan. "The sentence shall be executed and he is taken into custody forthwith," the Bench had said.
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