Madras HC overturns Goondas Act detention of YouTuber Savukku Shankar

Justices SM Subramaniam and V Sivagnanam passed the order while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Shankar’s mother Kamala. However, Shankar's immediate release remains unlikely despite the court's decision because of multiple legal challenges in other cases in the state.

Chennai(Tamil Nadu):The Madras High Court on Friday, August 9 quashed the detention of YouTuber Savukku Shankar under the Goondas Act invoked against him and ordered his release. The court has also directed that Shankar be released if his detention was not needed in any other case.

However, Shankar's immediate release remains uncertain as he faces multiple other cases across the state. Justices SM Subramaniam and V Sivagnanam passed the order while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Shankar’s mother Kamala.

"The order of detention (under Goondas Act) is set aside. We direct the detenue Shankar @ Savukku Shankar to be set at liberty forthwith if he is not required in any other cases," the order stated.

The bench announced its verdict based on a number of criteria, such as legal concerns, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and public order. Noting that "media persons and YouTubers cannot be strangulated, and if done so, it may pull the society back into the Colonial era," they said that preventive imprisonment was not a suitable course of action.

The Goondas Act is an abbreviation for the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Cyber law offenders, Drug offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Forest-offenders, Sand-offenders, Sexual-offenders, Slum-grabbers and Video Pirates Act, 1982.

This strict law enables law enforcement to place repeat offenders in preventive custody, including those accused of murder, immoral traffickers, sexual offenders, and other similar offenses, in order to stop them from engaging in risky behavior that could endanger public safety.

Shankar was taken into custody for disparaging police officers. In an interview conducted in April, he claimed that female police officers were providing a senior officer with sexual favors in exchange for promotions. The court order comes close to a month after the Supreme Court granted Shankar bail in the case.

Shankar was initially arrested by Coimbatore police on May 8, 2024, for allegedly denigrating women police personnel in a YouTube interview. Following this, a total of 16 cases were registered against him, leading to his detention under the Goondas Act by the Greater Chennai Police Commissioner on May 12.