KOLKATA: Calcutta High Court judge Justice Chinnaswamy Swaminathan Karnan on Monday ordered five-year rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh fine each for Chief Justice of India (CJI) Jagdish Singh Khehar and seven other Supreme Court (SC) judges after finding them guilty under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocity) Act.
In a 12-page order passed from his makeshift residential court here, the Dalit judge pronounced the SC judges guilty under Section 3, subsection (1)(m), (r) and (u) of SC/ST (Prevention) of Atrocities Act, 1989.
He stated that the accused may go to Parliament against his order but until then, the CJI and the seven judges must not attend work.
Apart from CJI Khehar, Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Kurian Joseph, Justice R Banumathi’s name has been added to pass an order on February 15, 2016 that restricted Justice Karnan’s work at the Madras High Court from February 15 to March 9, 2016.
Justice Karnan also ordered the seven judges including the CJI to pay Rs 14 crore for charging him with contempt, which he ordered the Supreme Court Registrar General to deduct from their salaries and pay him in his account.
Similarly, Justice Banumathi, the eighth judge has been ordered to pay Rs 2 crore. Justice Karnan also ordered the Kolkata District Magistrate to pay Rs 2.85 lakh in cash or kind as relief to him under Section 12 subsection 4 of the Act.
Justice Karnan directed the Delhi Police to arrest the eight Supreme Court judges and ordered the accused to pay the fine to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes within a week’s time.
He also directed the Union and State governments not to avail their services and said that the accused have misused their judicial and administrative powers by colluding with 20 corrupt judges.
Justice Karnan stated that orders passed by the judges on February 15, 2016 and February 8, 13, March 10, 21 and May 1, 2017 clearly state their common intention to harass a Dalit judge.
He also based his judgment on circumstantial evidences available with the press and 1,000 advocates.