Supreme Court Suspends Sentence Imposed By Madras HC On Savukku Shankar For Contempt Of Court

It was on September 15 that a division bench of the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) comprising Justices GR Swaminathan and P Pugalendhi convicted Shankar for criminal contempt of court for his remark "the entire higher judiciary is riddled with corruption" in an interview given in YouTube channel. The division bench refused to suspend the sentence, following which he was taken to Madurai jail.

Shankar's SLP against the High Court order was filed in the Supreme Court on October 11.

The High Court bench led by Justice Swaminathan suo motu initiated the contempt proceeding taking note of the YouTube interview of Shankar. Before that, the Justice GR Swaminathan's bench had taken another suo motu contempt case against him over his tweets against Justice GR Swaminathan.

Savukku Shankar argued his case himself before the High Court. He did not deny the statement but said that his interview and articles taken as a whole would indicate that he has respect for the judiciary but wants its improvement by getting rid of the corrupt elements. He said that Supreme Court judge Jusice Kurian Joseph, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and the current law minister have also spoken about corruption in judiciary.

The Court held that his statements amount to lowering the dignity of the court and proceeded to convict him.

"The conduct of the contemnor deserves to be noted. Nowhere he expressed his regret or remorse. He did not offer any apology at all. On the other hand, he asserted that he was justified in making the charged statements. A reading of the charged statements would lead anyone to the conclusion that they are likely to lower the prestige and dignity of courts and judges. We, therefore, hold that the contemnor is guilty of criminal contempt", the High Court observed.

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