Supreme Court Terms Ex-HC Judge Karnan's Attempt To Forcibly Enter Ex-SC Judge's House "Unfortunate"

The Supreme Court on Monday said that it was "unfortunate" that C S Karnan, former judge of Madras & Calcutta High Courts, forcibly tried to enter the residence of retired apex court judge R Banumathi in Chennai.

A 3-judge bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar was hearing a petition filed by Delhi Tamil Advocates Association seeking action against Karnan for his conduct.

Senior Advocate C A Sundaram, petitioner's lawyer, brought to the attention of the bench the newspaper reports about Karnan forcing his way into the house of Justice Banumathi.

"Whatever has happened is unfortunate. You should take all appropriate actions, including filing representation and complaint," a bench led by Justice AM Khanwilkar told Senior Advocate CA Sundaram, the petitioner's lawyer, reported the News18.

The Tamil Nadu police has registered an FIR against the ex-judge and five others for creating ruckus outside Justice Banumathi's house.

The lawyer also told the bench about the objectionable videos in circulation in social media, where Karnan is seen issuing threats of sexual violence against wives of Supreme Court judges.

The bench told the petitioner to file representation and complaints before the appropriate authority under law for action against the concerned judge and removal of the objectionable videos from internet.  The bench adjourned the matter for three weeks, asking the petitioner to exercise all remedies available to them under the law in the meantime.

A group of women lawyers from Madras High Court has submitted a complaint before the Chief Justice of India seeking action against the videos of Karnan.

"The video and its contents are outrageous, reprehensible and constitute offences. What is worse is naming the alleged victims, an act prohibited by law, a fact that a judge should surely know", stated the complaint sent by V Vaigai, Senior Advocate and nine others.

The complainants stated that the comments of the ex-judge "amount to a horrific act of violence and an affront to the dignity of all women".

In May 2017, C S Karnan became the first sitting High Court judge to be held guilty of criminal contempt of court. A constitution bench of the Supreme Court sentenced him to six months imprisonment for his multiple acts of public utterances against judges. As a judge, Karnan had also done extraordinary acts like passing a judicial order to stay his own transfer and issuing arrest warrant against Supreme Court judges.

After the sentence, he went into hiding. He was arrested a month later and was sent to Presidency Jail in Kolkata, where he underwent imprisonment till December 2017.