New Delhi: Advising restraint against scandalising the judiciary, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to curb the YouTube channel of senior journalist Felix Jerald but asked him why he allowed circulation of scandalous remarks against the judiciary and women police officers.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra stayed the conditions imposed by the Madras High Court that Jerald should shut down his YouTube channel “RedPix 24×7” for getting bail in the criminal case over alleged scandalous remarks in the interview of ‘Savukku’ Shankar uploaded on the channel.
Although the bench allowed the YouTube channel to continue its operation, CJI Chandrachud asked, “Why are you making scurrilous allegations against the judiciary and all women IPS officers…why do you host such interviews?”
Senior Advocate Gopal Shankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioner, agreed that the petitioner should not have hosted the interview but the direction to close the YouTube channel was harsh.
He highlighted that the petitioner’s channel has been in operation since 2004 and has over 2 million subscribers.
Jerald is facing cases registered under Sections 294 (b) and 506 (1) of the IPC read with Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act. along with another YouTuber Savukku Shankar.
