Madras High Court Reserves Order On State's Plea To Cancel Savukku Shankar's Interim Bail, Flags His Derogatory Language Against Police

The Madras High Court, on Tuesday (20th January), reserved orders on a plea filed by Tamil Nadu police seeking to cancel the interim bail granted to YouTuber-Journalist Shankar alias Savukku Shankar. The bench of Justice P Velmurugan and Justice M Jothiraman said that the orders would be passed on Friday (23rd January).When the case was taken up yesterday, an apprehension of bias was raised by Shankar's side. The bench had however made it clear that it would not recuse from the hearing and would not stall the hearing unless the respondent is able to secure an order on the administrative side, asking the bench not to take up the case.When the matter was taken up today, Additional Public Prosecutor Muniyapparaj informed the court that Shankar had been making statements and videos criticising the police force using derogatory language. The court also went through some of the video clips and criticised Shankar's use of language. The court asked the respondent (Shankar's mother) to advise her son not to use such language. The court added that though persons like Shankar made such statements under the garb of press freedom or freedom of speech and expression, he was himself violating Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.On the respondent's argument that Shankar had serious medical conditions which would not be treated properly by the police authorities, the bench orally suggested that a medical board can be constituted by the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital or Omandurar Government Hospital, which could examine Shankar's medical condition and give an opinion to the court. The court added that since it is not an expert in the matter, it could refer the matter to the experts and asked Shankar to cooperate with the medical board. "You say that they are not giving proper medical treatment. So we will give the No.1 hospital, the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital. Let a medical board be formed. Let them examine him and give an opinion...We're not saying anything. We are not experts. Courts are experts only on the law. For all other areas like ai, science, technology or anything, we just ask the opinion of experts. The court is a layman for other areas. We will refer the matter to the expert and they can give an opinion. You go and cooperate with the medical board," the court orally remarked. Shankar was arrested on 13th December in connection with an offence under Sections 296(b), 353(lxc), 308(5), 61(2) and 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. It was alleged that Shankar had extorted money from a film producer.Following his arrest, Shankar's mother Kamala had approached the High Court seeking his medical treatment. A habeas corpus plea was also filed to forbear the police authorities from isolating Shankar from other prisoners.On December 26, 2025, a vacation bench of the Madras High Court granted interim bail to Shankar for a period of 3 months. The court had noted that Shankar had serious health issues and needed treatment. The court had also noted that the authorities had been filing cases against Shankar, curtailing his personal liberty.The Inspector of Police, Saidapet Police Station, had approached the court seeking to cancel this interim bail. The officer argued that, though bail was granted on medical grounds, Shankar had not been taking any medical treatment. The officer also submitted that after being released, Shankar had made 8 videos, each spanning around 60 minutes, which show that he was not as medically crippled as he argued before the court. The officer submitted that the specialised medical treatment was only a ruse to escape the clutches of law.The officer also submitted that Shankar has been misusing the liberty granted by the court and has been interfering with the investigation. It has been stated that Shankar had been threatening the witnesses and the investigating officers. It has been submitted that Shankar has been posting and disseminating defamatory content against the witnesses and the investigating officers online.The officer also submitted that Shankar had not been cooperating with the investigation, which was evident from the fact that in one of his videos, he had admitted to giving false information to the police. It was also submitted that Shankar had not shared details of his place of residence with the Investigating Officer, which was one of the conditions for granting interim bail.Case Title: The State of Tamil Nadu v. A KamalaCase No: WPMP Crl 14 of 2026

Madras High Court Reserves Order On State's Plea To Cancel Savukku Shankar's Interim Bail, Flags His Derogatory Language Against Police

Upasana Sajeev

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