Stepping up his effort to get remission of the six-month prison sentence awarded to him by the Supreme Court for contempt of court, former Calcutta High Court judge C.S. Karnan will appeal to the new President, Ram Nath Kovind, soon after he assumes office.
Speaking to The Hindu over phone his lawyer Mathews J. Nedumpara said they are aiming to make it the “first petition submitted physically and electronically” to the new President “within minutes” of his swearing-in.
Final draft
Mr. Nedumpara also said that the final draft of the petition to the new President was prepared on Monday. Justice (retd.) Karnan is currently serving the prison sentence at the Presidency Jail in Kolkata following his arrest from Coimbatore by a Bengal Police team in June.
Earlier he had also written to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi seeking parole.
“Inscrutable are the ways of the Almighty. It could be His will that Justice C.S. Karnan’s be the first representation which Your Excellency as the President of India [will receive] on the very first day of assumption of office. And that too, seeking the exercise of your Excellency’s extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 72 of the Constitution of India,” stated the petition. Referring to the President’s power to grant pardon or to suspend, remit or commute sentences under Article 72 of the Constitution the petition urges the new President to either remit or suspend the sentence awarded to Justice Karnan till the hearing of his appeal to “recall/review” the Supreme Court’s order.
In the petition Mr. Nedumpara refers to Mr. Kovind’s background as a lawyer and urges him to look into the prison sentence awarded to Justice Karnan by the Supreme Court.
“I part with the unstinted faith that Your Excellency will exercise the powers invested in your kind self under Article 72 of the Constitution of India and remit the sentence of Justice C.S.Karnan or will suspend the sentence pending the hearing of the application for recall/review of the orders of the Supreme Court of India dated 9.5.2017and 4.7.2017,” the petition stated.
In February, the Supreme Court issued a contempt of court notice against him for allegedly degrading the judicial institution. Justice Karnan had written to the Prime Minister and allegedly accused several retired and sitting Supreme Court and High Court judges of corruption.
A seven-judge Bench, led by the Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar, heard Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi who said that Justice Karnan should face contempt proceedings for his “scurrilous” letters against sitting and retired High Court and Supreme Court judges.
