Madras High Court quashes ‘Savukku’ Shankar’s detention under the Goondas Act

Madras High Court quashes detention order of YouTuber 'Savukku' Shankar under Goondas Act, orders immediate release.

The Madras High Court on Friday, August 9 2024, quashed a detention order passed by the Greater Chennai City Commissioner of Police on May 12 detaining YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar alias A. Shankar, 48, under the Goondas Act for allegedly indulging in acts prejudicial to the maintenance of public order.

A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and V. Sivagnanam allowed a habeas corpus petition filed by the detainee’s mother A. Kamala challenging his detention and ordered that he must be set at liberty forthwith unless his detention was required in connection with any other case.

The petitioner’s son was arrested on May 4 in connection with a criminal case booked by the Coimbatore cyber crime police for having spoken ill about the conduct of women police personnel in an interview he had given to another YouTube channel. Subsequently, multiple other cases were filed against him.

It was thereafter, the Commissioner of Police had invoked 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 against him.

The detainee’s mother had challenged the detention order on multiple grounds. In the meantime, the Supreme Court too had granted interim bail to him in the preventive detention matter. Yet, he could not walk out of the prison because of his formal arrest inside the Puzhal central prison in several individual criminal cases.