Chennai: CS Karnan, former judge of the Madras and Calcutta High Courts, was arrested here Wednesday. CS Karnan was arrested following a complaint against him for making vulgar comments against women and remarks against judges, police said. The arrest came after a video clip surfaced recently in social media. In the video Karnan allegedly made objectionable remarks against judges and their wives. He was arrested by the Central Crime Branch personnel from his suburban residence, a police official said.
Several sections of the IPC have been invoked against the former judge. Among those are insulting the modesty of a woman, intentional insult to public servant sitting in judicial proceeding and using obscene words. The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohbition) Act has also been invoked against him, the official stated. Also, Karnan has been charged under section 67 A of the IT Act for transmission of explicit obscene material, he added.
A woman advocate has formally lodged a complaint against Karnan. Following investigation, he has been arrested, the official said. He added that Karnan ‘will be remanded’.
In June 2017, Karnan had evaded arrest for over a month after the Supreme Court held him guilty of contempt. It sentenced him to undergo six months of simple imprisonment. He was finally arrested from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. He was released from the Presidency jail in Kolkata in December of that year.