Justice Karnan's son meets President Mukherjee's Secretary over SC's order

After the Supreme Court rejected Calcutta High Court judge Justice C.S. Karnan's plea for recall of his six-month jail term for contempt of court, the former's son, S. K. Sugan, on Saturday met President Pranab Mukherjee Secretary, seeking immediate suspension of the apex court's order.

Justice Karnan's lawyers told ANI that they and Sugan met the Secretary to the President of India, Ashok Kumar Mishra, and submitted a memorandum seeking immediate suspension of the order passed by the seven Judge bench of the Supreme Court.

One of the lawyers of Justice Karnan, Mathew J. Nethumpara, has requested President Mukherjee to grant relief to the former after the apex court refused to grant the same.

Earlier on May 19, the Supreme Court rejected Justice Karnan's plea, stating that the petition was "not maintainable" in the court.

"I am constrained, but to hold that the present writ petition is not maintainable. The relief, if any, lies somewhere else. I, thus, see no reasonable cause to receive the present writ petition for registration under the provisions of order XV, rule (5) of the Supreme Court rules, 2013," the Supreme Court Registrar said in the order.

Earlier this month, Justice Karnan had approached the apex court seeking recall of the May 9 order, in which he was convicted and was sentenced to six-month imprisonment.

The Supreme Court also banned the media from publishing the orders passed by him during his tenure.

The top court had taken suo motu cognizance of numerous letters written by him against judges of the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court and restrained him from exercising administrative and judicial powers from February 8.

Karnan is the first ever sitting judge of a higher court in judicial history to be sent to jail.