CS Karnan's bail plea rejected, Supreme Court refuses to suspend retired Calcutta HC judge's 6-month jail term

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain former Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan’s plea seeking interim bail and suspension of the six-month sentence awarded to him for contempt of court.

A vacation bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul said the court was duty-bound by the order of the seven-judge bench on the case and Karnan—arrested on Tuesday after being on the run for more than a month—should mention the matter before a bench of the chief justice.

The seven-judge bench had already passed an order and only the special bench could hear the plea, the judges said.

Appearing for Karnan, advocate Mathew J Nedumpara said this court had all the powers and should grant the interim bail till the reopening of the court. To this, the vacation bench said it could not override the order of the seven-judge bench.

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Karnan, 62, was arrested last night by the West Bengal CID from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, more than a month after the Supreme Court sentenced him to six months imprisonment for contempt of court. 

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