Madras High Court Directs YouTube To Deposit Revenue Made By Savukku Shankar Through Allegedly Defamatory Video Against Lyca Productions

Noting that YouTubers did not have a license to tarnish the reputation of others, Justice N Satish Kumar also restrained Shankar from making further allegations against the media house.

Lyca Productions had moved the court seeking damages to the tune of Rs. 1 crore and a permanent injunction restraining Shankar from making any derogatory or defamatory statements against the media house.

Senior Advocate B Raghavachari, appearing for Lyca, contended that in March this year, Shankar had posted a video making several unfounded statements against the production house which was also followed by defamatory posts on X, previously Twitter. It was contended that these videos and posts, which were made without any basis, were viewed more than 6,34,000 times while the posts were viewed 39,300 times and sent out a wrong picture about the media house.

The production house submitted that Sankar had intentionally, wilfully, deliberately, and maliciously made defamatory statements against the media house and disseminated the defamatory contended on social media with an intent to project the media house in poor light and to tarnish the reputation of Lyca, which was internationally reputed as one of the world's top most production house.

Lyca also contended that Shankar had been in the habit of making several baseless allegations against political parties, elected representatives, judiciary, and various limbs of the Government under the guise of calling himself an independent journalist and a “whistleblower”.

Raghavachari also contended that no person should be allowed to escape the consequences of uttering false statements aimed at lowering the stature of a person or company in the eyes of the public. He added that Shankar's acts of calling names without facts deserved to be chastised.

Finding a balance of convenience in Lyca's favor, the court restrained Shankar from making further allegations. The court also directed Yiutube to deposit the revenue to the suit's credit and posted the case to April 12.

Case Title: Lyca Productions Pvt Ltd v A Shankar alias Savukku Shankar

Case No: OA 215 of 2024