Controversial Calcutta High Court’s Justice CS Karnan on Friday asked the Air Control Authority in New Delhi to not allow the chief justice and seven Supreme Court judges to travel outside the country. Karnan said the order should be effective until the cases against him are disposed.
Citing caste discrimination as a basis for the order, Karnan said if “the accused are permitted to travel abroad, there is the probability of the virus of caste discrimination spreading in the said country by such perpetrators,” The Hindu reported.
On April 13, Karnan had “ordered” Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and the six other Supreme Court judges who had issued a contempt notice against him to appear before his “residential court” in Rosedale Towers, Kolkata, on April 28. Referring to their absence on Friday, Karnan said, “Today, the above mentioned accused 1 to 8 are called absent hence their matter is re-posted to May 1 to enable their reappearance.” He added another Supreme Court justice to the list of the accused.
Karnan has alleged that the seven judges, including the chief justice, had insulted him in open court when they had questioned his mental health during a hearing on March 31. The seven-judge Supreme Court bench had rejected Justice Karnan’s demand to be allowed to discharge his judicial duties. The bench had held that the high court judge was not in a clear state of mind and gave him four weeks to file a response to his allegations against senior judges. It had issued a bailable warrant against him on March 17.
Karnan is facing contempt charges for degrading the judiciary and making allegations of corruption against Supreme Court judges. The 61-year-old has maintained that the judges have been discriminating against him because he is a Dalit.
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