KOLKATA: Controversial Calcutta High Court judge, Justice C S Karnan, became the first High Court judge in India to retire while absconding and being sought by police on Monday, which is also incidentally his birthday.
The Dalit judge, who accused the Supreme Court bench of judges of corruption and found them guilty under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, for discriminating against him on the basis his caste, is missing since May 9 after the apex court sentenced him to a six-month jail term.
For the first time, the Calcutta High Court did not host a customary farewell dinner for the retiring judge who went missing from Chennai.
Justice Karnan, who turned 62 on Monday, hails from a village in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu.
Two Kolkata police teams are hunting for Karnan, and sources revealed that they believe he may be hiding either in Nepal or in interior Tamil Nadu.
He is untraceable as both his sim cards have been switched off and his last tracked location was Chennai on May 9.
Justice Karnan was ordered to undergo a psychiatric test by seven Supreme Court judges, and reiterated by ordering a similar test on them.
The Calcutta High Court judge was earlier suspended from duty by the apex court on charges of contempt of court. Justice Karnan’s open showdown with the Supreme Court brought the charges and his judicial powers into question.