Reporting to the police every day and furnishing two sureties are the terms of the conditional bail the Madras High Court has granted to a man accused of using AI videos of CM Vijay to collect money from the public.
Chennai: The investigation is complete, the chargesheet is ready and the phone allegedly used has been seized. With those facts noted, the Madras High Court on Friday (October 23) granted conditional bail to a Rajasthan man who is alleged to have created fake AI videos of Chief Minister Joseph Vijay and collected money from members of the public in his name [Shyabu Khan v. State].
Justice N. Ramesh directed the applicant to report to the jurisdictional police station daily until further orders and to furnish two sureties, one a blood relative and one a local surety.
Why the Court was inclined to grant bail
The government advocate opposed the plea, arguing that the applicant had scammed people using the Chief Minister’s name. The Court, however, noted that the applicant had been in custody since September 12, that the investigation had been completed and the chargesheet was ready, and that the mobile phone allegedly used in the offence had been seized. It was therefore inclined to grant bail, subject to the condition of daily appearance before the police.
What the prosecution alleges
The applicant, Shyabu Khan, was arrested on September 12, 2026 and has been in judicial custody since. He is booked under Sections 204, 318(2), 319(2), 336(3) and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, which deal with cheating, cheating by personation, forgery, identity theft and cheating by personation using a computer resource.
According to the prosecution, he generated fake AI scam videos on Facebook impersonating the Chief Minister to induce the public. It is alleged that he created two Facebook profiles, “All India Help Vijay Thalapati” and “All India Help”, and circulated digitally manipulated videos asking people to contact them for help, and that he collected registration fees. The government advocate told the Court that the applicant had collected Rs 16,000 using the Chief Minister’s name. These are allegations. They are untested, the Court has expressed no view on the merits, and the applicant is presumed innocent.
From the trial court to the High Court
The applicant first sought bail from the trial court. He argued that a friend had created the videos using his mobile number and Facebook ID, and that the friend was also operating his bank account. He pleaded innocence, said he had no knowledge of the scam videos or any intention to cheat or impersonate anyone, and claimed he had been falsely implicated.
The trial court rejected bail on October 14, noting that the investigation was still on. The applicant then approached the High Court, submitting that he had been in judicial custody for more than 45 days and that the investigation had since been completed.
Case Title: Shyabu Khan v. State (full case title and number not available at the time of writing)
Bench: Justice N. Ramesh, Madras High Court
Date of Order: October 23, 2026