The Supreme Court of India.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Madras High Court's order directing the shutting down of a YouTube channel as a condition for bail to senior journalist Felix Jerald.
A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, however, asked senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioner, as to why he had to make "scurrilous" charges against all women police officers and judiciary.
The counsel agreed that he should not have allowed the airing of those allegations on the channel.
The court issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government and stayed the condition till further order.
The bench, however, clarified that the petitioner should comply with all other conditions.
Jerald was arrested by the Tamil Nadu police on May 10 from New Delhi for airing an interview with ‘Savukku’ Shankar in which the whistleblower had made defamatory remarks against women police personnel.
The High Court had directed him to close his YouTube channel Red Pix 24x7 and file an affidavit of undertaking before the trial court that he would not indulge in similar types of activities in the future.
Gerald was booked under 294(b) (obscene acts and songs), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), of IPC, Section 4 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act and Section 67 of Information Technology Act, 2000.
Gerald and Shankar have been vociferous critics of the DMK government led by Chief Minister M K Stalin.
Shankar has been put under the preventive detention order passed on August 12 under the Goondas Act, just three days after his previous detention order was quashed by the Madras High Court.