In a decisive move, the Supreme Court has overturned the Madras High Court’s controversial condition that required YouTuber Felix Jerald to shut down his popular channel “RedPix 24×7” to secure bail. The case stemmed from an interview featuring ‘Savukku’ Shankar, where alleged inflammatory remarks against the judiciary and women police officers were made.
A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, alongside Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, deemed the condition unnecessary and unrelated to the core issue. They upheld their earlier decision, issued on September 6, which had temporarily stayed the High Court’s order.
The discussion during the September 6 hearing was tense, with the Court criticizing Jerald for giving a platform to potentially damaging accusations. “Why do you allow such interviews? You are making scurrilous allegations against the judiciary and women IPS officers,” CJI Chandrachud remarked sharply.
Although Jerald’s legal team, led by Senior Advocate Gopal Shankaranarayanan, conceded that the interview should not have been hosted, they argued that shutting down the YouTube channel was an extreme measure. Shankaranarayanan pointed out that Jerald’s channel, which boasts over 2 million subscribers, had been operational since 2004. He referenced a previous Supreme Court ruling in the Mohammed Zubair case, which rejected the idea of restricting a person’s online activity as a condition for bail.
The charges against Jerald include Sections 294(b) and 506(1) of the IPC, in addition to Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, for his association with the interview featuring Shankar.