‘Savukku’ Shankar moves Madras High Court to club all 17 FIRs registered for speaking ill of policewomen

YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar seeks to consolidate 17 FIRs against him for criticizing women police personnel in Tamil Nadu.

YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar alias A. Shankar, 48, has approached the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the Director General of Police (DGP) to club all 17 First Information Reports (FIRs) that had been registered against him at various police stations across Tamil Nadu in connection with an interview he had given to a YouTube channel regarding the conduct of women police personnel.

The petition has been listed for hearing before Justice G. Jayachandran on Thursday, August 8, 2024. In his affidavit, the petitioner said, the first FIR in connection with the interview was booked against him by the Coimbatore cyber crime police on the basis of a complaint that he had spoke ill of women police personnel. Thereafter, multiple cases were registered before various districts on the basis of the same interview.

“While I am not defending my action, if (sic) I had spoken intentionally spoken the same would be subject to decisions of the courts,” the petitioner said and complained that he was now being intentionally paraded before different courts day in and day out, with the sole intention of harassing him, though the Puzhal central prison as well as the courts had been equipped with video conferencing facilities.

Claiming that he was a whistleblower who had been exposing alleged misgovernance as well as the misdeeds of bureaucrats, the petitioner said, multiple criminal cases had been booked against him ever since he was arrested first on May 4 and that he had also been detained under the Goondas Act in order to wreak vengeance. He accused the police of acting “as per the desires of the political bosses.”

He went on to state that the interview given by him regarding women police personnel had led to registration of FIRs in the police stations in Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Madurai, Dindigul, Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Perambalur, Nagapattinam, the Nilgiris, Sivaganga, Nagapattinam, Salem and Tirunelveli districts. He said that it would be a herculean task for him to run from district to district to contest each and every case.

“I strongly believe that the cases foisted against me are all false and done only to prevent me from being free. Because, if I am free and in public, I would question and raise my voice of dissent against the people in power,” the petitioner said and sought a direction to club all the cases. He also stated to have given a representation in this regard to the DGP as well as Additional DGP (Headquarters) on July 24.