In a significant judicial rebuke, the Supreme Court of India criticized Tamil actor-turned-politician S V Shekher for his derogatory social media campaign against a female journalist. During a session on Friday, the bench, comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, expressed dismay over Shekher’s actions and granted him a temporary exemption from surrender pending further hearings.
The justices highlighted the severity of Shekher’s actions, emphasizing that he launched a “nasty campaign” that attacked the journalist’s dignity “in a brazen and abrupt manner.” Justice Kant, addressing the counsel for Shekher, suggested that this might not be an isolated incident and that the actor could potentially be harassing other women.
Despite claims from Shekher’s lawyer, Balaji Srinivasan, that the actor had forwarded the offensive message without reading it and had deleted it within an hour while issuing an apology, the court noted discrepancies in these assertions. Justice Kant pointed out that according to the High Court’s observations, Shekher had never formally apologized but had only issued a statement as a formality.
The controversy stems from a 2018 social media post in which Shekher allegedly made derogatory remarks about the journalist. Following a complaint by a journalist association, the police initiated legal action under various sections of the IPC and the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act. In February of the previous year, a special court convicted Shekher, sentencing him to one month’s imprisonment and imposing a fine, after finding him guilty of the charges.
The Madras High Court later upheld the special court’s decision and dismissed Shekher’s appeal, which sought to overturn the one-month prison term. However, the high court suspended the sentence for 90 days to allow Shekher to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
