CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Wednesday sought the Coimbatore District Legal Services Authority’s (DLSA) report on the health conditions of the YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar. He is currently lodged at Coimbatore Central Prison on charges of denigrating women police officers and possessing ganja.
When a habeas corpus petition filed by the YouTuber’s mother, A Kamala, came up for hearing, the vacation bench of Justices AD Jagadish Chandira and R Kalaimathi directed the High Court Registry to obtain the report of the DLSA, whose four-member team visited the prison to ascertain Shankar’s health conditions following another petition filed in the local court.
Senior counsel John Sathyan, appearing for Kamala, submitted that Shankar had no injuries on his body before imprisonment but an advocate, after visiting him in the prison, stated that he had sustained injuries.
The government advocate representing the police, however, told the court that Shankar suffered injuries on his left hand, right foot and lips when the van, in which he was taken to Coimbatore, met with an accident at Dharapuram. The prison doctor had examined him and certified the injuries and Shankar had acknowledged it by affixing his thumb impression on the medical report. The bench adjourned the case to Thursday.
Meanwhile, Justice K Kumaresh Babu dismissed another petition filed by T Vignesh, creative head of Savukku Media Private Limited run by Shankar, seeking to restrain the police from invoking the Goondas Act against the jailed YouTuber. The judge said no such preemptive orders could be passed. In a second petition filed by Vignesh, alleging police’s interference in the functioning of the Savukku Media, the judge directed the Greater Chennai Police to file a response by Thursday.
Advocate P Vijayendran, appearing for Vignesh, said the routine activities of the YouTube channel have been frozen and the employees could not enter the office. Saying that the employees are unable to do their daily duties in disseminating news, the council described the police’s interference as a violation of articles of the Constitution that protect freedom of speech and expression.
Remanded
In another significant development, the Principal Special Court for EC and NDPS Act Cases in Madurai on Wednesday remanded Savukku Shankar in judicial custody till May 22 in connection with a ganja case registered against him at PC Patti police station in Theni. During the hearing, Shankar submitted to the special court judge M Chenkamalaselvan that due to the custodial violence against him in Coimbatore prison, he needed to be shifted to Madurai Central prison.
He also requested proper medical treatment. Judge Chenkamalaselvan asked him to file a petition in this regard. Later, he was again taken to Coimbatore prison. Meanwhile, a group of women staged a protest outside the court premises condemning Shankar’s derogatory remarks.
Tiruchy cops also book YouTuber
Tiruchy: The district cybercrime police on Wednesday registered another case under five sections against YouTuber Savukku Shankar for making derogatory remarks on women police personnel in a YouTube interview. The case was filed based on a complaint lodged by Musiri DSP MA Yashmin. The police have booked Shankar under sections 294(b), 353, 509 of IPC, section 67 of Information Technology Act, 2000 and 4 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act. YouTube channel interviewer G Felix Gerald (48) has been also been booked. Shankar who was lodged in Coimbatore Central Prison, was formally arrested by the Tiruchy police. Many women police personnel have lodged complaint with the Tiruchy superintendent of police.
(With inputs from Madurai)
