Release pension of Justice Karnan, law min tells Kolkata AG
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: The law ministry has written to the accountant general of Kolkata toimmediately release pension of Justice C S Karnan, the former judge of the Calcutta high court who was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment by the Supreme Court earlier in a contempt of court case.
After Justice Karnan applied for release of his pension and other retirement benefits, the accountant general (AG) had raised objections on the ground that the judge has been convicted and jailed, according to a source. The matter was raised with theUnion law ministry which clarified that there is no such provision in the High Court Judges (Salary and Conditions of Service) Acttodeny a judge his retirement benefits.
Justice Karnan, when contacted by TOI, refused to comment if his pension has been cleared. Justice Karnan retired on June 12 last year. A weekbefore hewas taken into custody by the police from Coimbatore on the instructions of the apex court after he evaded arrest for more than a month. Karnan was sentenced to six months imprisonment by a seven-member SC benchon May9 for contempt of court.
The AG is the representative of the comptroller and auditor general in a state and is responsible for ‘auditing government accounts, maintenance of provident funds accounts and authorisation of pension and other retirement benefits’.
The state government had raised no objections to the release of Karnan’s pension after the Union law ministry had sought its opinion as a matter of procedure. Justice Karnan was the first sitting high court judge tobeconvicted and sentencedtoimprisonment. He was released from prison in the last week of December 2017 but his pension was still withheld due to objections by theAG’s office.
Sources said a reminder was sent totheAG’s officethat itwouldbeillegal toholdback JusticeKarnan’s pension and retirement benefits and hence should be released immediately with arrears effective his retirement date.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: The law ministry has written to the accountant general of Kolkata toimmediately release pension of Justice C S Karnan, the former judge of the Calcutta high court who was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment by the Supreme Court earlier in a contempt of court case.
After Justice Karnan applied for release of his pension and other retirement benefits, the accountant general (AG) had raised objections on the ground that the judge has been convicted and jailed, according to a source. The matter was raised with theUnion law ministry which clarified that there is no such provision in the High Court Judges (Salary and Conditions of Service) Acttodeny a judge his retirement benefits.
Justice Karnan, when contacted by TOI, refused to comment if his pension has been cleared. Justice Karnan retired on June 12 last year. A weekbefore hewas taken into custody by the police from Coimbatore on the instructions of the apex court after he evaded arrest for more than a month. Karnan was sentenced to six months imprisonment by a seven-member SC benchon May9 for contempt of court.
The AG is the representative of the comptroller and auditor general in a state and is responsible for ‘auditing government accounts, maintenance of provident funds accounts and authorisation of pension and other retirement benefits’.
The state government had raised no objections to the release of Karnan’s pension after the Union law ministry had sought its opinion as a matter of procedure. Justice Karnan was the first sitting high court judge tobeconvicted and sentencedtoimprisonment. He was released from prison in the last week of December 2017 but his pension was still withheld due to objections by theAG’s office.
Sources said a reminder was sent totheAG’s officethat itwouldbeillegal toholdback JusticeKarnan’s pension and retirement benefits and hence should be released immediately with arrears effective his retirement date.
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