YouTuber Savukku Shankar approached the Supreme Court challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to detain him again under the Goondas Act, days after the Madras HC quashed earlier orders passed under the preventive detention law. Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud Today (Aug 14) granted him interim relief in the matter by staying any further coercive action.
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NEW DELHI: YouTuber Savukku Shankar approached the Supreme Court, challenging the Tamil Nadu government‘s decision to detain him once again under the Goondas Act. This move comes just days after the Madras High Court quashed previous orders issued under the preventive detention law.
The Supreme Court, under a Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, has granted interim relief to Shankar, staying any further coercive action against him.
“We have stopped all coercive action against him … We have granted protection from any coercive action in all 17 FIRs. File a complete chart of all FIRs as well,”
-the Court stated during today’s proceedings.
Advocate Balaji Srinivasan, representing Shankar, informed the Court that the latest detention order was issued shortly after the Madras High Court had quashed an earlier detention order against Shankar. Srinivasan argued,
“They have detained me again in preventive detention … yesterday, again … I got bail in all cases … And now they have again detained me yesterday … Please record that I will challenge yesterday’s order also.”
According to reports, the new detention order was based on allegations that contraband, specifically ganja, was found in Shankar’s possession. The earlier detention order, issued in May, had cited multiple grounds, including defamatory comments allegedly made by Shankar against women during an interview with another YouTuber, Felix Jerald.
Shankar had remained in detention for over three months, partly due to a split verdict on May 24 by two judges of the Madras High Court, who could not agree on whether his detention should be quashed. A third judge, intended to break the tie, described the split verdict as an “aberration” and referred the case to another Division Bench of the High Court.
The delays prompted Shankar’s mother, A. Kamala, to approach the Supreme Court seeking her son’s release.
On July 18, the Supreme Court ordered Shankar’s interim release until Kamala’s plea is finally decided by the High Court.
Subsequently, a High Court Bench comprising Justices MS Ramesh and Sunder Mohan recused themselves from hearing the case, citing objectionable comments made by Kamala against the Court in her transfer petition filed before the Supreme Court.
On August 9, another High Court Bench, composed of Justices SM Subramaniam and V. Sivagnanam, quashed the May detention order against Shankar. However, as he was detained again in connection with a new case by the Tamil Nadu Police, Shankar once more approached the Supreme Court for relief.
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Click Here to Read Previous Reports on YouTuber Savukku Shankar
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