Last week, the Supreme Court issued a bailable warrant against Justice CS Karnan of the Calcutta High Court in matter related to contempt of court proceedings. The case was initiated after Karnan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that several of his fellow judges in the apex court and high courts be investigated for corruption. Despite orders to appear before it, Karnan remained defiant by stating that he was no servant of the Supreme Court. On Friday, he reportedly ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the seven Supreme Court judges who issued the warrant against him, including Chief Justice JS Khehar.
These developments have clearly hurt the image of the judiciary. Apart from corruption allegations, Karnan has also raised the issue of caste discrimination against him and has said that he was being victimised by upper caste judges since he was a Dalit.
What does this controversy say about the functioning of the judiciary? In an interview, former judge of the Madras High Court, K Chandru, argued that Karnan’s case proved that the process of judicial appointments needed an overhaul. He said that judges have to be made accountable to the people and that courts should learn to command respect through their actions and not through contempt proceedings....
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