A seven apex court judge bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) JS Khehar, with justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, PC Ghose and Kurian Joseph have today withdrawn all judicial and administrative work from Calcutta high court judge Justice CS Karnan, according to PTI.
Karnan was ordered to respond to the Supreme Court notice by 13 February.
Karnan’s run-ins with his brother and sister-judges has had a long and controversial history, with Karnan having made a series of allegations against other judges.
And only one year ago the Supreme Court had already stripped Karnan of his judicial power, while he was at the Madras high court.
While Karnan and the then-CJI TS Thakur attempted to build bridges back then in a meeting, things clearly weren’t rosy. The collegium transferred him to Calcutta a few months later, which Karnan challenged in the Supreme Court.
The last suo motu contempt action by the Supreme Court was against retired Justice Markandey Katju, who, not unlike Karnan had also written about how corrupt he felt the judiciary was (though Karnan’s grouse has appeared to be more personal than Katju’s). Katju’s action ended with an apology from the colourful judge in early January, though he has now started to cautiously criticise the judiciary again in his blog.
Update: Read the Supreme Court order here
First time, SC moves against High Court judge for contempt | The Indian Express
FOR THE first time, the Supreme Court has initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against a high court judge for writing letters, levelling allegations of corruption against several sitting and retired apex court and high court judges.
The unprecedented move will see the seven senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice of India, drawing up contempt proceedings against Calcutta High Court judge C S Karnan.
A fortnight ago, Justice Karnan had written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to take action against what he described as “high corruption at the judiciary”. In his letter dated January 23, the judge furnished “an initial list of corrupt judges” and named 20 judges of the Supreme Court and high courts.
Keep reading at The Indian Express (10 more paragraphs) | Desktop version
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I dont think there can be a doubt there is corruption in the higher judiciary. Given that these allegations have been made by a sitting judge of the High Court, why shouldnt the Chief Justice ask him to substantiate them or have them investigated, rather than seek to silence him. These are not allegations by just anybody.
The letter is available online. Is there a reason you are not publishing it?
Its all very well for the SC to flex is muscles against the judge. But frankly a loose cannon can be dealt with swiftly without public spectacle. Why no muscle flexing in relation to corruption?
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