The Karnataka High Court has sentenced K. Dhananjay, a former employee of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), to four months in jail for each of two contempt of court cases. The court found him guilty of submitting a forged statement in court and making false, scandalous claims against judges and legal officials. A two-judge panel, Justices Anu Sivaraman and Vijaykumar A. Patil, ruled on the cases separately. The first case arose from a 2018 complaint by the IIA accusing Dhananjay of repeatedly making baseless allegations against members of the Central Administrative Tribunal, High Court judges, and government lawyers. The second case began in 2019 when the court noticed he had filed a fake objection statement, imitating a Central government lawyer's signature. The judges harshly criticized his conduct, saying, "His conduct can only be termed as deliberate and adamant and reveals complete apathy towards social, moral and judicial codes of conduct." They added, "If conduct of this nature is not punished, sociopaths like the accused are likely to repeat such offences with impunity which would endanger the rule of law and the judicial system as a whole." The court said he showed no remorse and even tried to justify his actions. The ruling stresses the need to uphold respect for the judiciary and legal institutions. Dhananjay faces a total of eight months imprisonment for his offences.