Court orders YouTuber Savukku Shankar’s release as Tamil Nadu revokes detention

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of YouTuber Savukku Shankar after Tamil Nadu revoked his detention order in relation to a drugs case.
A top court bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra recorded the submission by the Tamil Nadu government and ordered that he should be released immediately.
“The Advisory Board has opined that the impugned order of detention be revoked. Acting on the opinion of the Advisory Board, the state has revoked the order of detention today. In view of the aforesaid, Savukku Shankar shall be released forthwith, if not required in any other case”, the court noted.
The court then disposed of a plea by Shankar’s mother requesting to produce him before a judge to challenge his detention.
In August, Shankar was detained under the Goondas Act by Theni District Collector RV Shajeevana in connection with a ganja case. Shankar and two others were arrested in May for possession of 500 grams of ganja found in his car.
In a related development, Theni district police also arrested Mahendran, who allegedly supplied ganja to Shankar, seizing 3 kgs of ganja from his residence.
Shankar was granted bail in the ganja case on July 29 by a Madurai court, but his detention under the Goondas Act came just days after the Madras High Court set aside his detention in a forgery and cheating case.
The Youtuber is facing a number of legal cases. He was first arrested on May 4, 2024 for allegedly making defamatory remarks against female police personnel during an interview on YouTuber Felix Gerald’s channel ‘RedPix 24×7’.
Following the incident, a total of 16 FIRs were filed against Shankar in different districts of Tamil Nadu, all in connection with the same interview.
Savukku Shankar is facing charges under IPC Section 294(b) for obscene acts or words in public and IPC Section 506(1) for criminal intimidation, along with Gerald.
After being released from jail, Shankar said, “It is shameful that a party which is celebrating 75 years has arrested me under the Goondas Act. ⁠As Savukku media exposed the Dravidian model of government in eight months, a false case and 17 other cases for speaking against the police in a defaming manner were imposed. I was moved across Tamilnadu in a plice vehicle. I sustained three fractures on my right arm as it was broken inside Coimbatore Jail.”
“… ⁠This is not atrocity against one person but is is atrocity against journalistic freedom,” he said.