The Madras High Court on Friday, 26 December 2025, granted interim bail to YouTuber Savukku Shankar, who was arrested on 13 December 2025 in connection with allegations of assault and extortion involving a film producer.
A vacation bench comprising SM Subramaniam and P Dhanabal noted that Shankar was suffering from serious health issues requiring medical treatment and observed that repeated cases had been filed against him, resulting in curtailment of his personal liberty. Taking these factors into account, the court granted interim bail from 26 December 2025 to 25 March 2026.
“Taking note of the submission before the court and taking into consideration the medical condition of prison inmate and repeated curtailment of his liberty, court is inclined to release him on interim bail from 26/12/2025. The petitioner’s son shall surrender before the authorities on or before 25/3/2026,” the court said.
During the hearing, the vacation court also strongly criticised the State police, observing that journalists were being targeted for exercising their fundamental right to dissent.
“Why are you running behind journalists? Dissent is a democratic right. In the legislative assembly, dissent is respected. If anyone expressing dissent is harassed, you’re going against the Constitution,” the court orally remarked.
The bench further observed that if authorities believed any individual was making baseless allegations, they were free to pursue remedies available under civil law.
“Some people would talk. Go file a defamation case, get an injunction. No one is preventing you. If you touch upon personal liberty, it interferes with fundamental principles of the Constitution,” the court added.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Shankar’s mother, Kamala, seeking medical treatment and temporary bail for her son. A separate plea was also filed seeking directions to restrain prison authorities from isolating Shankar or subjecting him to solitary confinement.
Shankar was arrested on December 13 under Sections 296(b), 353(1)(c), 308(5), 61(2), and 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, on allegations that he had extorted money from a film producer. His mother submitted that a day prior to the arrest, one of the employees of Shankar’s media company received ₹94,000 through GPay from an unknown person. While the employee was preparing to lodge a complaint regarding the unauthorised transaction, the police allegedly arrived at Shankar’s residence and arrested him.
It was argued before the court that the transaction was an orchestrated trap intended to falsely implicate Shankar and secure his arrest through a fabricated criminal case.
While examining the matter, the bench expressed displeasure over what it described as repeated filing of cases against Shankar. The court recalled that two detention orders had earlier been issued against him and observed that due to his whistleblowing activities, politicians in positions of power were persistently foisting cases against him.
The court noted that the nature of the allegations and circumstances surrounding Shankar’s arrest raised suspicion of abuse of power by authorities.
“Law should not be used to target specific individuals falling out of favour from authorities…Repeated clamping shown to the individual will not send a right signal to the citizen of the country,” the court said.
The bench further remarked that the alleged abuse of power had not only affected Shankar but had also caused mental agony to his family members. Considering all factors, the court granted interim bail subject to conditions, including that Shankar shall not leave the country or interact with witnesses during the bail period.
Source: LiveLaw
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