Plea for criminal action against Justice CS Karnan: Bar Council has rightly taken up the cause, says Madras High Court

The repeated utterances of Justice CS Karnan would undermine the dignity of the judicial institution, remarked the Madras High Court on Monday, referring to the spate of comments recently made by the former judge against the judiciary and women (Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry v. DGP and ors)..In addition to a pending writ petition, the High Court has issued notice in a criminal petition moved by the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry seeking criminal action against Karnan for his controversial comments.."Is our judiciary so weak that it is unable to defend itself?" TN Bar Council argues in Madras High Court for criminal action against CS Karnan.While posting the matter for further hearing on November 30, the Bench of Justices M Sathyanarayana and R Hemalatha observed, ."It is to be stated at this juncture that the Bar and Bench are two sides of the same coin and therefore, the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry has rightly taken up the cause as the repeated utterances by the 1st accused, viz., Mr.C.S.Karnan, would undermine the dignity, reputation, honour and majesty of the Institution, for which the lawyers also form part.".The Bar Council yesterday made detailed arguments in the matter, informing the Court that the police had failed to act against Karnan despite a criminal complaint being lodged against the former Madras High Court judge on November 6. .Public Prosecutor A Natarajan informed the Court of various steps taken by the police on the basis of a criminal complaint earlier lodged by an Advocate Devika. Further, measures were also taken to block offensive videos featuring Karnan's comments online. .Earlier, the Court had directed that such content be blocked on social media..[Breaking] Madras High Court directs blocking of derogatory remarks by former judge CS Karnan on social media.The Public Prosecutor further assured that the State authorities would comply with any order the Court may pass in the matter. Since a similar complaint was already registered, the Bar Council's November 6 representation would be considered as part of the same case and the Council would be examined as a witness, the Court was told. .Both the Bar Council and the State informed the Court that Karnan had continued giving speeches, with new videos having been uploaded between November 13 and 15 as well. This content was blocked on November 17, the State added, and steps have been taken to remove the remaining content. .Natarajan further submitted that the case would be monitored by the Police Commissioner as well as the Director General of Police, given its sensitive nature, and since Karnan's comments would undermine the dignity, majesty, and honour of the judicial institution..The Court proceeded to adjourn the matter to November 30 for physical hearing, after directing the police to file a counter. The Bench added, "It is very pertinent to point out at this juncture that under Section 149 of Cr.P.C., it is the duty of the police to prevent cognizable offences and therefore, it is not necessary on the part of the police to wait for the commission of the offences and prevention is always better than cure.".Arguments for the Bar Council were made by Senior Advocate S Prabhakaran, assisted by Advocate CK Chandrasekaran. Public Prosecutor Natarajan was assisted by Additional Public Prosecutor S Karthikeyan. .Karnan had served as a judge of the Madras and Calcutta High Courts, before he was held guilty of contempt by the Supreme Court for making unfounded allegations against the judges of the Apex Court. He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment in that case and was released from prison in December 2017..Read the Order: