The Supreme Court on Monday permitted the consolidation of First Information Reports (FIRs) registered against YouTuber Savukku Shankar for the allegedly disparaging comments he made online.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said the FIRs would be clubbed with the primary one registered at the Coimbatore City Cyber Police Station in May 2024. The material and evidence collected in these FIRs (adding up to about 15) would be transferred to the Coimbatore station.
The Bench directed Mr. Shankar, represented by advocate Balaji Srinivasan, to abide by its order dated November 11, 2022, and not make any videos or comments about the court proceedings.
Appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, with advocate Sabarish Subramanian, said Mr. Shankar has been “incorrigible” in his conduct and has continued to make such remarks. “He cannot hold himself back,” Mr. Luthra submitted.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was also appearing for Tamil Nadu, said the Bench ought not to entertain Mr. Shankar’s pleas for relief. “He is making allegations against High Court judges, the police department, journalists… He is a dismissed constable,” Mr. Rohatgi submitted.
Mr. Srinivasan said his client had made an unconditional apology.
On November 11, 2022, the apex court had suspended a six-month prison sentence imposed by the Madras High Court on Mr. Shankar for criminal contempt, while forbidding him from making videos or comments about judicial proceedings.
The High Court had held him guilty of contempt after taking suo motu cognisance of his comments (on YouTube) that “the entire higher judiciary is riddled with corruption”.
The High Court had sentenced him while observing that he had not expressed regret for his remarks in the public domain. The High Court had said that a reasonable person reading Mr. Shankar’s comments would conclude that they lower the prestige and dignity of the judiciary.
