Justice Karnan, who has been sentenced to six months in jail, has decided to apply for pardon from President Pranab Mukherjee.
He had, on Wednesday, applied to Supreme Court for 'recall of the judgement', given by the seven-bench judge of the Supreme Court of India. His mercy petition would reach Rashtrapati Bhavan in a day or two.
Justice Karnan's legal advisor W. Peter Ramesh Kumar told THE WEEK, “His lordship is doing all necessary paper work to appeal for President’s pardon. He has appealed to Supreme Court to recall the judgement.”
When asked whether it was proper for a sitting judge to evade the law, Kumar said, “He is a law abiding person but has to evade the law for the time being as he would have to do all these paper works. We are hopeful that something would be worked out. He is a sitting judge of a High Court in India.”
Nobody has a clue on the whereabouts of Justice Karnan. A five-member team of West Bengal police is in Chennai and is in constant touch with the Tamil Nadu police for information about the Calcutta High Court judge.
When asked about where Justice Karnan is hiding, Kumar said, “He is in India but at an undisclosed location. We cannot reveal the place as Justice Karnan is busy now dealing with his next course of action.”
Sources said Justice Karnan is at a place which is under the limits of a religious body in South India where the cops do not have easy access. However, his close associates said he would come out himself once he realises that there aren't any more leagal weapons for him.
“I don’t know how many days it would take. Because that would only be possible once President of India takes the final decision,” said Kumar.
A senior officer of West Bengal police said, “We cannot act forcefully because he is still a sitting judge of our High Court. He enjoys all the benefits the High Court judge enjoys, including transport and security. How could we breach his security?”
