CHENNAI: Former Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) officials on Wednesday for his remarks against the retired and serving Supreme Court judges, their wives, and women judges, in a video which went viral on social media.
He was remanded in judicial custody in Puzhal prison. The arrest comes days ahead of a hearing of a case on the matter on December 7.
In October, Tiruvanmiyur police had booked a case against five men, without naming Karnan, for trespassing into a woman SC judge's residence in their jurisdiction, after which a video of him making sexually violent remarks against women judges and wives of other SC judges had gone viral on social media.
On November 26, Karnan had appeared in front of the Central Crime Branch sleuths for an inquiry in connection with his remarks.
He was also booked under several sections, including insulting the modesty of a woman and criminal intimidation, based on a complaint by one advocate Devika, soon after he appeared for an inquiry before the CCB.
Last week, during a hearing at the Madras High Court, the CCB officials had produced an apology letter claiming that the retired judge had given it to them promising not to indulge in similar acts. But the judges rejected the letter and asked the DGP and the City Police Commissioner to be present for the December 7 hearing.
On November 10, the court had also ordered the police to pull down the video from social media.
This is the second time Karnan is being arrested. In June 2017, he was arrested from a private guest house in Malumachampatti in Coimbatore by West Bengal police, after being on the run for 40 days since vanishing from the government guest house in Kolkata. Karnan was also sentenced to six-month imprisonment earlier, while he was a sitting judge at the Calcutta High Court.