The Supreme Court on November 11, 2022, suspended the six-month prison sentence imposed by the Madras High Court to YouTuber Savukku Shankar for criminal contempt of court.
A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and JK Maheshwari forbade him from making videos or comments about judicial proceedings.
The High Court had held him guilty of contempt after taking suo motu cognisance of his comments on YouTube that “the entire higher judiciary is riddled with corruption”.
The High Court had sentenced him while observing that he had not expressed regret for his remarks in the public domain. The High Court had said a reasonable person reading Mr. Shankar’s comments would conclude that they lower the prestige and dignity of the judiciary.
“The contemnor has reiterated his resolve to continue his attack on the judiciary. He has gone to the extent of stating that he can be sentenced only to a maximum of six months and that after coming out, he will focus all his attention on judges and judiciary. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer stated that ‘Justice fails when Judges quail’. We do not propose to quail,” the High Court had observed.
