The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday held well-known blogger ‘Savukku’ Shankar guilty of criminal contempt for his remarks on the higher judiciary and sentenced him to six months of simple imprisonment. He was directed to be lodged in Madurai Central Prison.
The court had initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against Mr. Shankar following his remarks, “The entire higher judiciary is riddled with corruption,” made to a YouTube channel on July 22. Earlier, the court had framed charges and called upon him to explain, within a week, why he should not be held guilty of scandalising the judiciary by making statements in the public domain.
A Division Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and B. Pugalendhi observed that the conduct of the contemnor deserves to be noted. Nowhere did he express his regret or remorse. He did not offer any apology at all. On the other hand, he asserted that he was justified in making the charged statements. The Bench was of the view that a reading of the charged statements would lead anyone to the conclusion that they are likely to lower the prestige and dignity of courts and judges.
