CS Karnan, a former judge at the Madras and Calcutta High Courts, was arrested in Chennai on Wednesday following a complaint against him for making vulgar remarks against women and remarks against judges, police said. The arrest comes after a video clip recently appeared on social media, in which Karnan allegedly made objectionable comments against the judges and their wives.
He was arrested by Central Crime Division personnel from his suburban residence, a police officer said. Various sections of the IPC, including those related to the insult to the modesty of a woman, the intentional insult to a public servant in the judicial process, the use of obscene words, criminal conspiracy and intimidation, have been invoked against the former judge .
The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act has been invoked against him, the official told PTI. In addition, he has been charged under section 67 A of the Information Technology Act for transmitting explicit obscene material, he added.
A defender has formally filed a complaint against him and, following the investigation, he has been arrested, the official said, adding that “he will be placed in preventive detention.”
In June 2017, Karnan, who evaded arrest for more than a month, was arrested in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu after the Supreme Court found him guilty of contempt and sentenced him to six months in simple prison. He was released from the Presidential jail in Calcutta in December of that year.
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