YouTuber Savukku Shankar gets 3-year jail term over remarks against newsreader

The Egmore Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court convicted Shankar under provisions of the law on the prevention of harassment of women. He has 30 days to appeal.

In Short

• Egmore magistrate court convicts him under women harassment law
• Prosecutors call remarks defamatory, specifically targeted at newsreader
• The court grants YouTuber 30 days to file an appeal against conviction

A Chennai court on Tuesday sentenced YouTuber and political commentator Savukku Shankar to three years in prison for harassing Sun TV newsreader Mahalakshmi through posts about her personal life.

In her police complaint, Mahalakshmi alleged that Shankar published derogatory claims and fabricated documents about her on his Savukku website. She also accused him and his associates of threatening her and demanding money to remove the posts.

The prosecution argued that the posts targeted and harassed Mahalakshmi.

The Egmore Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court convicted Shankar under provisions of the law on the prevention of harassment of women. He has 30 days to appeal.

WHO IS SAVUKKU SHANKAR?

A Shankar, known as Savukku Shankar, is a former employee of Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption who became a YouTuber and political commentator.

Through his Savukku platform and online interviews, he has criticised politicians, police officers and other public institutions.

He came to public attention after his arrest in 2008 over the alleged leak of a recorded conversation between two senior officials.

He has since faced several cases arising from his public remarks. Shankar has disputed allegations in earlier cases and accused the former DMK government of using arrests to silence him.

EARLIER CONVICTION AND ARRESTS

In September 2022, the Madras High Court sentenced Shankar to six months in prison for contempt after he said in a YouTube interview that the judiciary was “riddled with corruption”. That conviction was unrelated to Tuesday’s case.

Coimbatore Police arrested him in May 2024 over allegedly derogatory remarks about women police personnel in another online interview. The arrest followed a complaint by a woman sub-inspector. Several FIRs were registered in different districts over the interview.

In a separate narcotics case, police alleged that 500 grams of ganja had been found in a car in which Shankar was travelling. He was granted bail in July 2024 but was later placed under preventive detention under the Goondas Act.

The state government also revoked a separate preventive detention order on May 19, 2026. It had been issued the previous month, but an advisory board found no sufficient cause for his continued detention.

- Ends