SC grants interim relief to Tamil Nadu YouTuber held over ‘defamatory remarks’

The Supreme Court has ordered the interim release of YouTuber Savukku Shankar, who has been detained as a “goonda” since May by the Chennai Police, Bar and Bench reported.

Questioning the decision to detain Shankar, a Bench of Justices Sudhansdhu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah remarked that the Madras High Court appeared to have taken the matter of his liberty casually. It granted interim relief to Shankar while the high court hears the petition challenging his preventive detention.

“We also request for expediting the hearing considering that it is a preventive detention matter,” the court said while hearing two petitions moved by Shankar’s mother A Kamala, including one to seek the transfer of the case.

Shankar was arrested on May 4 based on a complaint by a woman journalist for making allegedly defamatory remarks against women police officers.

The court had earlier asked senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, who represented the Tamil Nadu government, to explain the need to detain Shankar. “You tell me, you have mentioned only two cases. Some reporter who has filed a case against him is not even in that state (Tamil Nadu) but in Delhi. He mentions about a particular case, which is also not very good to our mind. How can he be put in detention? Is he a threat to the national security of this country,” the court had asked, according to Bar and Bench.

A division bench of the high court in May this year had delivered a split verdict on Kamala’s petition against Shankar’s continued detention. A third judge later said the split verdict was in breach of legal principles.

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