Court condemns ex-judge's forced entry into house

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice A. M. Khanwilkar termed ex-HC judge attempting to enter ex-SC judge's house forcibly as unfortunate

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday termed an incident as unfortunate, in which a former judge of High Court forcefully attempted to enter the residence of retired top court judge Justice R. Banumathi, who retired in July this year, in Chennai.

A bench headed by Justice A. M. Khanwilkar noted that whatever has happened is "unfortunate".The bench told the senior advocate C. A. Sundaram, appearing for Delhi Tamil Advocates Association, that his client should take all appropriate actions, including filing representation and complaint.

The lawyers' body consisting a group of lawyers had filed a plea complaining against the conduct of C.S. Karnan, former judge of Madras High Court who had to serve six months in a Kolkata prison after he was held guilty of criminal contempt by the Supreme Court.

He retired while incarcerated in 2017.

During the hearing, Sundaram brought to court's attention on the abusive videos put up on YouTube and other social media platforms by Karnan, where he has reportedly seen bad-mouthing judges and their family members.

Sundaram vehemently argued that there are newspaper reports, which cite that he tried to force his way into the house of Justice Banumathi.

After a detailed hearing in the matter, the bench said the petitioner should approach the authorities concerned to remove the videos, as the issue may not fall in its domain.

Sundaram contended before the bench that he is of the opinion that Karnan needs medical help.

The petitioner counsel sought to amend the petition, as it would be reasonable to bring on record a particular provision in the Information and Technology Act, which may be useful in the matter.

The bench asked Sundaram to explore remedies available under the law and adjourned the matter.

Justice Banumathi has Tamil Nadu as her home state.

(IANS)