Dismiss plea against ‘Savukku’ Shankar’s detention under Goondas Act, Chennai Police Commissioner urges Madras High Court

YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar alias A. Shankar’s mother has filed a habeas corpus petition (HCP) challenging his detention under the Goondas Act even before the Home Secretary could refer the matter to the Advisory Board for its opinion and therefore, the petition must be dismissed, Greater Chennai City Commissioner of Police Sandeep Rai Rathore, has contended before the Madras High Court.

YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar alias A. Shankar’s mother has filed a habeas corpus petition (HCP) challenging his detention under the Goondas Act even before the Home Secretary could refer the matter to the Advisory Board for its opinion and therefore, the petition must be dismissed, Greater Chennai City Commissioner of Police Sandeep Rai Rathore, has contended before the Madras High Court.

In a counter affidavit to the HCP, the Commissioner said, he had passed the preventive detention order on May 12, 2024 and forwarded it to the State government as required under the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Cyber Law Offenders, Drug Offenders, Forest Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Sand Offenders, Sexual Offenders, Slum Grabbers and Video Pirates Act of 1982, commonly known as the Goondas Act.

The Home Secretary, in turn, had referred the matter to an Advisory Board, constituted under the Act, on May 24, 2024. The role of the Advisory Board in such matters was crucial because the law makes it incumbent upon the State to place every preventive detention order before it and if the Board was not satisfied about the existence of sufficient grounds to detain a person, then the detention order had to be revoked.

In the YouTuber’s case, though the State had already referred the matter to the Board, “The opinion of the Advisory Board is pending. In such circumstances, without availing the statutory remedy (before the Board), the petitioner has approached this honourable court and hence this writ (of habeas corpus) petition is liable to be dismissed,” the Commissioner asserted in his counter affidavit.

He also denied, in toto, the other charges levelled by the petitioner, A. Kamala, against the State government and the police personnel. “The Government or the police officers do not have any personal vendetta against the detenu... The averments made by the petitioner in her affidavit are incorrect and denied as false,” the officer said and listed out the criminal cases under which Mr. Shankar had been arrested.

It was brought to the notice of the court that the YouTuber had been booked for indulging in undesirable activities such as assassinating the character of women, besides harassing, demeaning and insulting them. He had also threatened police personnel in an interview and his interviews on the Kilambakkam bus stand issue had led to various public agitations, the Commissioner said.

The police officer said, there had been public agitations against the YouTuber whenever he was produced before the magistrates in Madurai, Tiruchi and Chennai for being remanded to judicial custody. Therefore, it was after considering all material evidences, and on independent assessment of the case, that a subjective satisfaction was arrived at to invoke the Goondas Act against him.