Madras High Court judge warns CJ of contempt of court

The Madras High Court registry has now moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the order passed by Justice Karnan. The matter is listed for hearing on Monday before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India H L Dattu.

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Justice Karnan has said he would go to the National SC/ST Commission against Justice Kaul for “harassing” him.

In November 2011, Justice Karnan had created a flutter by alleging that fellow judges had humiliated him. He had said Dalit judges were targeted and their reputation tarnished whenever they asserted their self-respect. In January last year, he had commented against the high court collegium over selection of judges, storming into a courtroom hearing a PIL to make his point.

In the latest instance, Justice Karnan raised objections against a five-member judge panel interviewing candidates for selection as civil judges. He accused one of the judges with having a bogus degree certificate and questioned the inclusion of two judges from the same community and family. He sought that two of the judges be from minority communities, Muslim and Christian.

Once he addressed a press conference at his chamber in which, narrating the “humiliation” and “embarrassment” he faced in the high court, he alleged that a fellow judge sitting cross-legged next to him at a meeting had touched him with his shoes deliberately and then said sorry. “Two other judges were watching it smiling,” he said.

In 2013, Justice Karnan had ruled that if a couple at the right legal age indulged in sexual gratification, it would be considered a valid marriage and they could be termed husband and wife.