Supporters of Tamil Nadu YouTuber Savukku Shankar have trended #IstandWithSavukkuShankar after the Madras High Court sentenced him to six months in jail for contempt of court. Angry netizens have called the sentencing against the idea of free speech.
A Bench comprising Justices GR Swaminathan and B Pugalenthi felt that Shankar had crossed the ‘Lakshman rekha’ by a long shot with his allegations of corruption against the judiciary. Both judges refused to show any leniency and sentenced the YouTuber to six-month jail sentence.
Angered by the court’s order, Shankar’s supporters took to Twitter to trend #IstandWithSavukkuShankar.
One wrote, “This is a country where people post and mourn for the Queen of England and don’t care about any local issues except films and cricket… #istandwithsavuku #IStandWithSavukku #IstandWithSavukkuShankar.”
Another commented, “Whistleblower to the core. We all stand with him at this time. We still have trust in our democracy!!!”
“He was a much needed whistleblower for TN. He is impervious to the ruling class and no one can curtail his speech. Bite the bullet for some days and come back stronger to bring more things to the limelight. @Veera284,” commented another user.
According to one user, “It’s appalling to see the judicial institutions having too little tolerance against a private citizen. Quite following Mr. Shankar for a while. Where the MSM or YTChannels take a right/left stand, @Veera284 takes a righteous stand most of the time. #IstandWithSavukkuShankar.”
This is a country where people post and mourn for the Queen of England and don’t care about any local issues except films and cricket… #istandwithsavuku #IStandWithSavukku #IstandWithSavukkuShankar pic.twitter.com/YayofiGves
— Shiddharth Sivaraj (@shiddharth_sid) September 15, 2022
Whistleblower to the core. We all stand with him at this time. We still have trust in our democracy!!! pic.twitter.com/hHpWCkXGU7
— Mohamed Shaik Hameed (@MohamedShaik07) September 15, 2022
He was a much needed whistleblower for TN. He is impervious to the ruling class and no one can curtail his speech. Bite the bullet for some days and come back stronger to bring more things to the limelight. @Veera284#SavukkuShankar #IStandWithSavukku #IstandWithSavukkuShankar pic.twitter.com/EIlf6Wo3fb
— Selvaganesh A (@Selvaganesh47) September 15, 2022
In this country there are lots of crimes and mistakes and many cases are pending. A man who raises questions for the people and a man who stands with the people is imprisoned shame of this 😡.#releasesavukkushankar#IstandWithSavukkuShankar pic.twitter.com/SvSYjKQhMR
— Athiest Reo (@ReoCuben) September 15, 2022
It’s appalling to see the judicial institutions having too little tolerance against a private citizen. Quite following Mr. Shankar for a while. Where the MSM or YTChannels take a right/left stand, @Veera284 takes a righteous stand most of the time. #IstandWithSavukkuShankar
— தனசேகரன் தண்டபாணி (@dhanasekaran_CA) September 15, 2022
The Madras High Court had taken a dim view of his comments against the judiciary and initiated a contempt of court case.
Shankar had stood by his comments in his early reply filed before the court. He, however, contended that Justice Swaminathan could not be a part of the Bench in the case against him since the controversial remarks were made against him in the YouTube video. The YouTuber argued that the judge could not preside over a case where he himself was a party.
But the Madras High Court contended that the Registry and referred the case to Chief Justice and the latter had chosen to include Justice Swaminathan in the Bench.