Chennai: Madras high court has questioned actor S Ve Shekher whether he would forward whatever came to his phone without reading the content.
Justice P Velmurugan made the observation on Tuesday while hearing an appeal moved by the actor challenging a one-month sentence imposed on him by a special court for posting a derogatory message against a woman journalist on social media.
The judge also refused to accept the contention that he was convicted based on a screenshot of the post produced without a mandatory Section 65A certificate under the Evidence Act. "When you have admitted to forwarding the post, what is the need for a Section 65A certificate?" the judge said and reserved his orders.
The issue pertains to a post shared by the actor in 2018 on social media containing derogatory remarks against a woman journalist. The journalist objected to the then TN governor, Banwarilal Purohit, patting her on the cheek during an official meeting.
Based on a complaint filed by a journalist association, the crime branch registered an FIR. Since he was a former MLA, the case was transferred to Chennai special court for cases against MPs and MLAs.
On Feb 19, the special court held that the prosecution proved the offence against the accused beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced him to one month imprisonment and imposed a fine of 15,000. Since counsel for the former MLA requested the court to suspend the sentence to facilitate him to move an appeal, the court suspended the sentence.