E-Paper
Madras HC grants conditional bail to former judge CS Karnan
Karnan has had to give an undertaking that he will not abscond during investigations and will not tamper with evidence. His bail would be cancelled if he doesn’t follow the conditions laid down by the court.
The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted conditional bail to former judge of the court Justice CS Karnan, who was arrested for uploading derogatory content on social media against former judges of the Supreme Court and their families. The single-judge bench of Justice V Bharathidasan granted bail to Karnan arrested in December 2020 on the condition that a personal bond of ₹50,000 along with two sureties would be furnished.
Other conditions include refraining from ‘committing similar offences’ of releasing defamatory videos, making abusive statements and he will have to remain in Chennai. Karnan has had to give an undertaking that he will not abscond during investigations and will not tamper with evidence. His bail would be cancelled if he doesn’t follow the conditions laid down by the court. Karnan’s bail petitions were rejected earlier and he was granted conditional bail this time as he needs treatment for post-Covid-19 complications.
Ten FIRs have been registered against Karnan under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act on complaints from the Bar Associations of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on charges that he had uploaded as many as 33 abusive videos on social media such as YouTube and Facebook. He also faces a complaint of trespassing into the residence of a woman Supreme Court judge. During the course of the case, Karnan had admitted to uploading videos as he was suffering from mental depression, the court said.
