COIMBATORE: Justice CS Karnan, retired Judge of Calcutta High Court, who was sentenced by Supreme Court to six months' imprisonment in an unprecendented order and has been on the run for more than a month now, was arrested by the West Bengal police at a resort in Malumichampatty on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday.
A top official in the Coimbatore City Police has confirmed his arrest.
Justice Karnan was arrested by a team of West Bengal CID, with the help of the Tamil Nadu police, from a resort near a private university in Malumichampatty. He is likely to be brought to Chennai tonight by flight and will be taken to Kolkata on Wednesday morning.
Justice Karnan had been evading arrest since May 9.
A seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar on May 9 directed the West Bengal Director-General of Police to execute its unprecedented order sentencing Justice Karnan to six months' imprisonment for contempt of court.
The apex court also refused to hear his plea seeking a stay on the order.
Justice Karnan's tenure as Calcutta High Court Judge ended on June 12. No customary farewell was given to him, as he became untraceable soon after his retirement. Justice Karnan has the dubious distinction of being the first sitting Judge to be awarded a jail term by the Supreme Court.
Born on June 12, 1955, Karnan enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu in 1983, was appointed as a Judge of Madras High Court in 2009.
He was transferred to Calcutta High Court on March 11, 2016, after he raised repeated allegations against against Madras High Chief Justice and fellow judges.
He claimed that he was being targeted because he was a Dalit.