The police bringing YouTuber A. Shankar, alias ‘Savukku’ Shankar, to a court in Coimbatore in May this year.
| Photo Credit: M. Periasamy
The Fourth Judicial Magistrate Court in Coimbatore on Friday granted conditional bail to YouTuber A. Shankar, alias ‘Savukku’ Shankar, in a case registered by the Coimbatore city cybercrime police in May this year.
Advocate Mowli Vellimalai from Delhi appeared for Mr. Shankar as lawyers who practise at Coimbatore courts are continuing their boycott in protest against the new criminal laws implemented by the Union government.
The case against Mr. Shankar relates to the alleged derogatory remarks he had made against police personnel in Tamil Nadu, including women officers, in an interview to a YouTube channel. He was booked for offences committed under Sections 294(b), 509, and 353 of the Indian Penal Code, read with Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Later, on May 4, the police arrested him at Theni.
Sources said Mr. Shankar is now lodged at Central Prison-II at Puzhal and the bail order was sent to the prison. They added that the bail petitions filed by the YouTuber in one or two cases were pending, while the police had filed charge sheets in almost all the cases.
