Consider plea to shift ‘Savukku’ Shankar out of Coimbatore prison: Madras High Court
The Madras High Court on Thursday closed a habeas corpus petition (HCP) led by the mother of YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar, alias A. Shankar, after directing the prison authorities to consider her representation to shift her son from the Coimbatore Central Prison to any other prison, since she had complained of custodial violence against him and feared that his life was under threat.
Justices A.D. Jagadish Chandira and R. Kalaimathi passed the orders after hearing senior counsel R. John Sathyan, appearing for the petitioner, A. Kamala, and Additional Public Prosecutor E. Raj Thilak, representing the prison authorities. The judges also took note that Mr. Shankar had been taken to the Coimbatore Government Medical College
Hospital on Thursday after he complained of pain in the right forearm.
Pointing out that the habeas corpus petition had been led seeking a judicial inquiry into the alleged custodial violence, the judges told the petitioner’s counsel that the prisoner himself had led a similar petition before the Coimbatore Judicial Magistrate IV who, in turn, had directed a team from the District Legal Services Authority to visit him in prison, along with a doctor.
The team had submitted a report to the Judicial Magistrate stating that the prisoner had complained of pain in his right forearm and therefore, it was essential to take an x-ray and also get an opinion from a plastic surgeon. The Magistrate had passed an order on Wednesday directing the Coimbatore prison authorities to take him to the medical college hospital for examination.
While passing the order, the Magistrate had refrained from going into the merits of the allegation of custodial violence since it was not clear whether the injuries had been sustained due to the alleged attack or during a road accident that occurred on May 4 when the prisoner was being transported to Coimbatore after his arrest in Theni in a case led against him for speaking ill of women police personnel, the APP said. He also denied any attack on the remand prisoner by the prison ocials. However, Mr. Sathyan said that the petitioner would take up the issue of custodial violence with the Human Rights Commission.
The Cyber Crime Wing of the Greater Chennai City Police formally arrested Mr. Shankar in connection with two cases
Other proceedings
The Cyber Crime Wing of the Greater Chennai City Police formally arrested Mr. Shankar in connection with two cases following complaints lodged by journalist Sandhya Ravishankar and Tamilar Munnetra Padai founder Veeralakshmi.
Based on Ms. Veeralakshmi’s complaint, the Cyber Crime Wing had earlier booked Mr. Shankar