Tamil Nadu Govt Revokes Savukku Shankar's Detention, Supreme Court Orders His Immediate Release

The Supreme Court today (September 25) ordered the release of YouTuber Savukku Shankar from detention under the Tamil Nadu 'Goondas' Act 1982.

The bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took on record the statement of the State of Tamil Nadu that it has revoked the detention order of Shankar today following the opinion of the Advisory Board.

Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Siddarth Luthra appearing for the State of Tamil Nadu informed that the Advisory Board has opined that the impugned order of detention be revoked.

Accordingly, the Court observed the following :

"Acting on the opinion of the Advisory Board, the State has revoked the order of detention today, i.e., 25th September, 2024.

In view of the aforesaid, the detenue Shankar @ Savukku Shankar shall be released forthwith, if not required in any other case.

The Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of."

The Court was hearing the challenge to the habeas corpus petition against his recent detention under the Tamil Nadu 'Goondas' Act 1982. Shankar in another plea has also challenged the 16 FIRs filed against him over an online interview.

Notably, Shankar was detained under the preventive detention law soon after the Madras High Court's order on August 9 quashing his previous detention relating to certain alleged adverse remarks against the Police Officials.

The detention has been challenged by his mother in the habeas corpus petition titled 'A. Kamala Versus State Of Tamil Nadu And Ors.'

It is the case of the petitioner that on August 12, Shankar was granted bail, was scheduled to be released from jail at 5PM. On the same day at 5:45 PM, he was again detained indefinitely in connection with an NDPS case in which he was granted bail 4 months ago. It may be noted that the petitioner was detained under Tamil Nadu 'Goondas' Act 1982 (Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Forest Offenders, Sand Offenders, Slum-Grabbers and Video Pirates Act).

On August 14, the Top Court stayed any coercive proceedings in light of the pending challenge to the 16 FIRs against Shankar

Background

Shankar, an independent journalist and YouTuber was arrested on May 4, 2024, for allegedly making defamatory remarks against female police personnel during an interview with the YouTube channel RedPix 24x7 on April 30, 2024. Following this incident, a total of 16 FIRs were filed against Shankar in different districts of Tamil Nadu, all stemming from the same interview.

In July, the Supreme Court had ordered the interim release of Savukku Shankar from his previous preventive detention which was subsequently quashed by the High Court on August 9 .

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