NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted protection to YouTuber-journalist Shankar alias 'Savukku' Shankar in 16 FIRs lodged against him by the Tamil Nadu police and decided to examine his plea regarding the fresh detention order made under the stringent Goondas Act a day before.
Advocate Balaji Srinivasan, appearing for Shankar, a strong critic of DMK government, told a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud that the petitioner had been arrested again by the Tamil Nadu Police after the top court and the high court ordered his release.
The YouTuber was detained again by the state police on Monday with regard to a case on possession of Ganja.
"We have granted protection from any coercive action in all the 16 FIRs. Please file a complete chart of all the FIRs as well,” the bench said.
On August 9, 2024, the Madras High Court set aside an order of the Chennai City Police Commissioner, detaining him under the stringent Goondas Act. The high court had directed the Youtuber, lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison, to be set at liberty forthwith if he was not required in any other case.
In a writ petition, he claimed the state is employing devious and illegal means to detain him in custody. Due to 16 subsequent FIRs lodged against the petitioner in various districts across the State, he has to travel to each district for all the court hearings, which is causing a toll on his mental and physical health, his plea said.
He contended he has been exposing the corrupt activities of bureaucrats and powerful politicians in Tamil Nadu.
He claimed due to his exposé of the “cash for jobs” scam, a powerful minister of the ruling party, Senthil Balaji, was arrested and also forced to resign. As a result, several Ministers and politicians of the ruling party filed defamation cases against him.
