The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a direction by the Madras High Court to YouTuber G Felix Gerald to shut down his YouTube channel RedPix 24x7 as a condition for granting him bail, Bar and Bench reported.
Gerald was arrested in May by the Tamil Nadu Police for hosting an interview with another YouTuber Savukku Shankar on his channel.
In the interview on April 30, Shankar allegedly made defamatory remarks about women police personnel. Shankar, however, claimed that cases were filed against him to stop him from speaking against alleged corruption by politicians and bureaucrats.
In August, the High Court granted bail to Gerald and asked him to shut down his channel as a condition.
On Friday, a bench of Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra questioned why Gerald allowed allegedly offensive remarks to be made during the interview. “Why did you hold such shows which are scurrilous casting such comments on judiciary, women police officers…Why at all?” Chandrachud asked.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing Gerald, acknowledged that the comments made during the interview were in bad taste, but questioned the need for shutting down the YouTube channel.
The bench then said it would hear the petition filed by the YouTuber against the bail condition. It also issued a notice to the state government.
Gerald is facing charges under sections of the Indian Penal Code for obscene acts or words in public and for criminal intimidation.
The direction issued on Friday came days after the Supreme Court on August 23 observed that the Tamil Nadu government was using its might to ensure that Shankar stayed in prison, seeing as he was taken into custody soon after his detention was quashed by the Madras High Court.
The bench made the remarks while hearing a challenge to 16 first information reports filed against Shankar. All the cases pertained to the interview with Gerald.
On August 9, the High Court quashed Shankar’s detention, observing that there was an element of malice in the Tamil Nadu government’s actions against him.
The YouTuber had been detained under the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Cyber Law Offenders, Drug Offenders, Forest Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Sand Offenders, Sexual Offenders, Slum Grabbers and Video Pirates Act, 1982.
On August 12, Shankar was granted bail and was scheduled to be released from jail at 5 pm, reported Live Law. However, at 5.45 pm, he was detained indefinitely in connection with the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act case. Shankar had already been granted bail in this case.
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