Former Madras High Court judge Justice CS Karnan, who became the first sitting High Court judge in India to be sentenced to imprisonment for contempt of court, passed away on Friday at the age of 71.

Justice Karnan was residing in Chennai and had recently been admitted to a hospital following health complications. He reportedly passed away on Friday morning after failing to respond to treatment.

Born in 1955 in Karnatham village in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore district, Justice Karnan was the second of eight children of Swaminathan and Kamalam. Originally named Karunanidhi, he changed his name to Karnan in 1991 at the request of his wife, Saraswathi.

He graduated from Madras Law College in 1983 and began practising as an advocate. In March 2009, he was appointed an additional judge of the Madras High Court and was made a permanent judge in March 2011.

Justice Karnan's tenure as a judge was marked by several controversies and confrontations with fellow judges and the Supreme Court. In November 2011, he alleged that fellow judges were harassing him on account of his Dalit identity. He subsequently levelled similar allegations against the then Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.

In 2014, he entered a courtroom while proceedings were underway and objected to the names proposed for elevation to the High Court.

In 2016, Justice Karnan was transferred to the Calcutta High Court. However, the transfer triggered another controversy after he purported to stay the order transferring him.

The confrontation with the judiciary intensified in January 2017, when he wrote to the Prime Minister accusing several sitting and retired judges of corruption. The Supreme Court subsequently initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against him.

During the proceedings, Justice Karnan passed purported judicial orders against Supreme Court judges, including directions sentencing them to imprisonment and imposing fines.

On May 9, 2017, a seven-judge Bench headed by then Chief Justice of India JS Khehar found him guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment.

The verdict was unprecedented, as it marked the first instance of a sitting High Court judge being sentenced to imprisonment for contempt of court.

Justice Karnan remained untraceable following the Supreme Court's order and retired from judicial service on June 12, 2017. He was eventually arrested in Coimbatore later that month and sent to prison. He completed his six-month sentence and was released in December 2017.

Following his release, Justice Karnan continued to remain in the public spotlight. In May 2018, he launched a political party and announced his intention to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In December 2020, Chennai Police arrested him over videos containing derogatory remarks against judges and women judicial officers. The Madras High Court rejected his bail applications in February 2021, observing that he had prima facie made the statements consciously and was aware of their consequences. He was subsequently granted conditional bail in March 2021.

More recently, in December 2024, the Madras High Court dismissed a petition filed in 2011 seeking to restrain Justice Karnan from making public statements against constitutional authorities and the judiciary. The Court held that the petition was not maintainable.