Former High Court judge C.S. Karnan dies in Chennai

Former High Court judge C.S. Karnan died in a Chennai hospital on Friday while receiving treatment for health complications, according to reports. He was 71, according to most accounts; one report gave his age as 72. Karnan served on the Madras and Calcutta High Courts and became the first sitting High Court judge in India sentenced to prison for contempt of court.

The Supreme Court sentenced Karnan to six months in prison on May 9, 2017, after finding him guilty of contempt. A seven-judge bench led by then Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar initiated proceedings following Karnan’s accusations of corruption and caste discrimination against fellow judges and his issuance of orders against Supreme Court judges.

In the months before the sentence, Karnan contested his transfer from the Madras High Court to the Calcutta High Court, where he had been transferred in 2016. In January 2017, he wrote to the prime minister alleging corruption among sitting and retired judges. The Supreme Court later withdrew his judicial and administrative work while the contempt proceedings were under way.

Karnan issued orders summoning Supreme Court judges to his Kolkata residence and later purported to...