Ever since its formation on the day the country became a republic in 1950, Tamil Nadu has earned two dishonourable distinctions from its rulers. First was the dismissal of a chief minister in a case of corruption: M. Karunanidhi, in early 1976. Second was the imprisonment of a serving CM for corruption: J. Jayalalitha, in 2014. Recently, a native of this southern state added a third to the pioneering list when he, serving as a Calcutta High Court judge, was sentenced to imprisonment. The Supreme Court has sent quarrelsome Justice C.S. Karnan to jail for six months on charges of contempt.