Madras High Court Reserves Orders On Savukku Shankar's Bail Plea In Attempt To Murder Case

The Madras High Court has reserved orders on a bail plea filed by YouTuber journalist Shankar @ Savukku Shankar in connection with an attempt to murder case registered against him by the state police.

Justice Victoria Gowri reserved orders after hearing counsel for Shankar and the State.

Shankar has also filed a petition seeking to quash the FIR registered against him in connection with the alleged crime. Though the counsel urged the court to grant the interim relief of stay, the court was not inclined to stay the criminal case today.

The case was registered against Shankar for allegedly attacking a Sub-Inspector of Police while Shankar was being brought to Puzhal prison from Oncole (Andhra Pradesh), after being arrested in connection with an alleged cheating and extortion case.

As per the prosecution, while Shankar was being brought to Puzhal prison, the vehicle was stopped midway to allow him to urinate. At that time, some men came in another car and started a quarrel with the Sub-Inspector of Police, abusing him in filthy language, and pelted stones at him. It was argued that Shankar also pelted stones against the officer and caused panic among the public. Thus, another case was registered against Shankar and men for offences under Sections 296(b), 125, 132, 109(1), and 351(3) of the BNS.

In his plea, Shankar argued that no such occurrence had taken place and a false story was being cooked up against him. He submitted that he was arrested when he came back to Ongole after visiting his ill mother in Bangalore, and while he was in custody, the present case had been foisted against him with an ulterior motive to detain him as a Goonda under the Tamil Nadu Goondas Act.

When the matter came up for hearing today, Shankar's counsel accused the State police of trying to file case after case against Shankar, in an attempt to detain him under the Goondas Act. It was submitted that after the alleged incident, the Sub-Inspector had started the investigation and thereafter, further investigation was conducted by the Inspector of Police. He thus argued that the police were attempting to make this into a big issue, when in reality, such an incident did not even take place.

Opposing the plea, Additional Public Prosecutor A Damodaran submitted that Shankar was a habitual offender who had 48 cases pending against him. He argued that after his interim bail came to an end, Shankar should have surrendered before the police as a law abiding citizen, but he instead absconded. The APP submitted that if Shankar was let out on bail, there was every possibility that he would abscond and threaten the witnesses and thus, he should not be granted bail.

To this, Shankar's counsel submitted that out of the 48 cases against Shankar, most were filed under the Information Technology Act for making statements or giving interviews online. 

After hearing the parties, the court reserved orders.

Case Title: Shankar @ Savukku Shankar v The Inspector of Police

Case No: Crl OP 11627 of 2026