NEW DELHI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- India's top court Tuesday sentenced defiant judge of Calcutta high court Justice Chinnaswamy Swaminathan Karnan to six months in jail for its contempt, officials said.
A seven-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, said its order needs to be executed forthwith.
"He has to be seen as a citizen of India and not as a judge. There is no colour or no judge, we can't distinguish the contempt, and not decide just on the fact that he is a sitting judge that we can't take action against him," the Chief Justice of India, Justice Khehar said.
The Supreme Court's order has come day after Justice Karnan sentenced the Chief Justice of India and seven other judges to 5 years of rigorous imprisonment in jail.
Justice Karnan issued the order on Monday evening from his makeshift court at his home in India's eastern state of West Bengal.
He has set up his own court after India's apex court barred him from handling any judicial or administrative function and asked him to return all official files in his possession to registrar general of Calcutta high court.
This is the first time in India that a high court judge is being sent to jail by the Supreme Court on charges of contempt.
Last week Justice Karnan turned up a team of doctors and police from his residence, who had come to carry out his medical examination on orders of Supreme Court to ascertain if he was "feigning mental imbalance".
The face-off between Justice Karnan and the Supreme Court started earlier this year after he wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi containing names of 20 "corrupt judges" and three senior law officials, urging him to act.
The Supreme Court viewed Justice Karnan's efforts as contempt of court and issued notice against him for allegedly degrading the judiciary by writing scurrilous" letters against sitting and retired high court and Supreme Court judges. The court demanded an explanation from Justice Karnan and ordered him to appear in person, which he ignored.
Justice Karnan accused the Chief Justice of India J S Khehar-led seven-judge bench of caste bias in initiating proceedings against him for he belonged to a low caste Dalit community.
Karnan alleged the judges harbour a caste bias against him and that the apex court order amounts to an offence under the law to punish atrocities against Dalits and tribals. He challenged the court to refer his case to Parliament.
Justice Karnan belongs to a Dalit community. Dalits were previously known as untouchables in India and fall at the bottom of India's caste hierarchy.
Justice Karnan has ordered that the Supreme Court judges hearing his case should pay him a compensation of 2.2 million U.S. dollars for disturbing his mind and normal life.
With orders and counter-orders, the two sides are trying hard to impose their writ.
