YouTuber A. Shankar alias ‘Savukku’ Shankar has approached the Madras High Court seeking bail in a case booked against him for having allegedly spread misinformation, regarding the investigation in a multi-crore rupees land fraud case, through an interview in his YouTube channel run by Savukku Media and also by addressing the mainstream Tamil news television channels in December last year.
The bail plea has been listed for hearing before Justice G.R. Swaminathan during the Pongal vacation court sitting on Friday (January 17, 2025). The case against the petitioner was registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on the basis of a complaint lodged by Siva Subramanian serving as Inspector of Police, Land Fraud Investigation Wing II, Central Crime Branch (CCB) police in Chennai.
In his complaint, the Inspector, the investigating officer in the land fraud case booked at the instance of the South Chennai District Registrar last year, said during the course of investigation, he came across an interview given by the petitioner to his own YouTube channel on December 5, 2024 regarding the land fraud case. Hence, he summoned the petitioner for an inquiry.
Though the YouTuber appeared for the inquiry on December 16, 2024, he began questioning the authority of the Inspector to do so and refused to cooperate, the complainant said. And when he was asked on what basis did he come to the conclusion that a false case had been booked against an innocent regarding the land fraud, the petitioner reportedly replied that he had no document to prove his assertion.
Therefore, the Inspector lodged a complaint with the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) accusing the petitioner of having attempted to derail the investigation in the land fraud case by spreading false information against the police in his YouTube channel. The complainant said, the YouTuber continued the tirade against the police even in his interviews to the mainstream media after the inquiry.
Following the complaint, ACP B. Sampath registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Savukku Media Network, the petitioner and the YouTube channel interviewers Leo and Malathi on December 18. The FIR was registered under Sections 221 (obstructing a public servant from discharging duty) , 222 (failure to assist a public servant) and 353(1)(b) and (2) (making false statements with the intent to induce an offence against the State) of BNS.
The ACP also appointed Inspector V. Bharathi as the investigating officer in the case against the YouTuber.
Published - January 16, 2025 02:23 pm IST
