The Calcutta High Court judge, CS Karnan on Tuesday May 2 issued a non-bailable warrant against seven Supreme Court judges, including the Chief Justice of India J S Khehar. Karnan passed this order from his residence in Kolkata after the Supreme Court on Monday directed a medical evaluation of him to confirm if he was "feigning mental imbalance."
"The Registrar General [of], High Court at Calcutta is directed to issue the non-bailable warrant to the above-named accused [seven Supreme Court judges] to be executed through the Director-General of Police or Commissioner of Police of New Delhi," Justice Karnan said in his order.
In fact, on Monday, after the Apex Court issued an order to get Karnan's mental health ascertained by a panel of doctors, he issued an order instructing the Director-General of Police in New Delhi, to produce the seven judges before a psychiatric board of AIIMS. He even refused to undergo the medical evaluation and said that the Apex court was trying to insult him as he was a Dalit judge.
In an earlier order, Karnan had asked all the seven Supreme Court Judges including Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, Pinaki Chandr Ghose and Kurian Joseph to be present in person before his court on May 28 and later "reposted" the matter to May 1.
"The tenor of the press briefings, as also the purported order passed by him [directing Chief Justice Khehar and the other Supreme Court judges to appear before him in Kolkata on May 1], indicate that he may not be in a position to defend himself in the present proceedings," said the Supreme Court Bench in its order for medical examination.
These seven judges had issued contempt notice against him in February when he had published an open letter to the prime minister and levelled corruption charges against 20 sitting and retired Supreme Court and High Court judges. However on Tuesday, Karnan called all the seven judges "absent" in his latest order.
