Usually the judge issues the arrest warrant. This time, an Indian judge is on the receiving end of one ... and he seems determined not to actually serve any time.
Police were on Thursday searching for CS Karnan, a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, two days after he was sentenced by a seven-member Supreme Court bench to six months jail for contempt of court, with immediate effect.
This comes after a full blown row between Karnan and the Supreme Court for months with the Calcutta judge accusing judges of the top court of corruption.
He also sentenced seven of them on Monday, saying they were guilty of caste discrimination.
Karnan had earlier turned away a team of doctors after the Supreme Court ordered a psychiatric evaluation to ascertain if he was mentally ill.
A team of Kolkata and Chennai police visited locations in Tamil Nadu state and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh Wednesday, but failed to find the judge, NDTV news channel reported.
A spokesman for Kolkata police confirmed that Karnan had not yet been arrested. The search has moved on to new, undisclosed locations, officials said.
Peter Ramesh Kumar, a lawyer representing Karnan said the judge had been staying at a government guest house in Chennai and had gone to visit a temple in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Kumar said a team of police from Kolkata and Chennai, where Karnan was earlier a judge, had questioned him already. He said he had given the authorities the same information.