Impugned Justice Karnan seeks Rs14 cr compensation from CJI

Facing an arrest warrant for defying Supreme Court orders in a contempt case against him, Justice C S Karnan of the Calcutta High Court has passed an order directing the Chief Justice of India and six senior-most SC judges to pay him Rs14 crore in compensation.

The suo motu order is in spite Karnan being divested by the SC of judicial powers.

He also ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe and report to Parliament on his complaint of corruption against 20 sitting and retired SC and high court judges.

The corruption allegations were construed as contempt by Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, leading to the setting up of the seven-judge bench which initiated contempt proceedings against Karnan.

The SC had issued a bailable arrest warrant against him on 10 March while ordering his production before the court on 31 March as Justice Karnan twice defied the SC summons seeking his presence to carry forward the proceedings (See: SC says warrant against Justice Karnan to be served 'personally').

Ignoring consequences, Justice Karnan, ordered to be divested of both judicial and administrative work by the SC, passed an order on Wednesday and followed it with a letter to the seven judges on Thursday.

In Wednesday's order, Justice Karnan directed the CBI to conduct a thorough probe into his corruption charges against the 20 judges and said material to substantiate his allegations was available with the Madras HC.

More bizarrely, He also ordered the seven judges on the bench headed by the CJI to pay him a compensation of Rs14 crore for ruining his reputation.

"The seven judges have prevented me in carrying out my judicial and administrative works from 8 February till now. Therefore, I am calling upon all seven judges to pay compensation, a sum of Rs14 crore as compensation since you disturbed my mind and my normal life, besides you have insulted me in the general public due to lack of legal knowledge," he said. He also asked them to pay the compensation within seven days.

Justice Karnan further fired off a fresh letter addressed to the seven judges informing them that their interim orders were null and void.