Ex-Madras HC judge CS Karnan arrested for 'offensive remarks' on SC, HC judges, their wives

Former judge CS Karnan was arrested by Chennai Police on Wednesday for allegedly making “offensive remarks” against Supreme Court and high court judges, and the wives of judges, according to several media reports. Karnan’s arrest comes a day after the Madras High Court directed DGP and Chennai Police Commissioner to personally appear before it on 7 December to apprise the court of the progress on the probe against him. According to a LiveLaw.in report, Karnan had allegedly made “rape threats and sexually coloured remarks against wives of judges, women lawyers, and female court staff”, following which the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu had filed a petition in Madras High Court. The Bar Council of Tamil Nadu had also “sought registration of FIR/ initiation of appropriate proceedings against such ‘unfortunate utterances’”, the report added. According to a report in NDTV, Karnan, a former judge of the Madras High Court and Calcutta High Court, had allegedly also uploaded his remarks on YouTube. The Indian Express  reported the Cyber Cell of Chennai Police had registered a case against Karnan on 27 October, following a complaint by a lawyer of the Madras High Court. A group of senior lawyers had even written to CJI SA Bobde, saying that Karnan’s remarks amount to a “horrific act of violence and an affront to the dignity of women” and sought immediate action against him, the report added. This is far from the first time Karnan has been the centre of controversy. Karnan in 2017 became the first sitting judge in the history of India to be found guilty of contempt of court. The former Madras and Calcutta High Court judge was released from a Kolkata prison  on 20 December, 2017, after having  served a six-month prison term. Karnan, who had enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu in 1983, was appointed a judge of the Madras High Court in 2009. He was transferred to the Calcutta High Court on March 11, 2016. He was transferred from the Madras High Court for his repeated allegations against and run-ins with the then chief justice and fellow judges of the court. With inputs from PTI