‘Can’t weigh citizen’s liberty lightly’: Madras High Court grants ‘Savukku’ Shankar bail in attempt to murder case
Justice L Victoria Gowri observed that the liberty of a citizen is not to be weighed lightly merely because allegations are grave and reiterated the settled principle that “bail is the rule and jail is the exception.”
Tamil YouTuber Savukku Shankar was booked in an attempt to murder case for allegedly pelting stones at police. (Photo: Savukku Shankar/ X) Madras High Court Savukku Shankar news: The Madras High Court has granted bail to Youtuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar in an attempt to murder case registered against him after he had allegedly pelted stones at police personnel while being brought to Puzhal Police Station, Chennai, after his arrest in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh.
Justice L Victoria Gowri observed that the liberty of a citizen is not to be weighed lightly merely because allegations are grave and reiterated the settled principle that “bail is the rule and jail is the exception”.
“The law insists that liberty and investigation must be balanced with judicial care. Where the presence of the accused can be secured by conditions and where the apprehensions of the prosecution can be neutralised by safeguards, continued incarceration would not be justified merely as a matter of course,” the court observed while granting bail.
Case
According to the prosecution, Shankar was arrested at Ongole in Andhra Pradesh on April 8, 2026 and was being brought to Chennai when the police vehicle stopped near Kavangarai. The police alleged that the accused persons, travelling in another vehicle, abused and attacked police personnel, and that Shankar too joined them by pelting stones and creating panic among the public.
Appearing for Shankar, counsel argued that the allegations were “artificial, concocted and inherently unbelievable” since the petitioner was already in police custody at the time of the alleged incident. He also pointed to contradictions between two FIRs, contending that the same person and vehicle were projected in incompatible versions in separate prosecution cases on the same day.
The state opposed the bail plea in the Madras High Court, arguing that Shankar was involved in a serious case where the police personnel were abused, threatened and attacked by pelting stones. The prosecution further contended that since he had already been detained under the Tamil Nadu Goondas Act, the question of granting bail did not arise.
Rejecting the state’s objection, the high court held that preventive detention and punitive custody operate in different fields and that the existence of a detention order could not take away the court’s power to independently examine a bail plea on merits.
“The mere existence of such detention order cannot denude this Court of its jurisdiction to consider a bail petition arising out of a particular crime. The entitlement to bail in a criminal case has to be examined independently on the facts of that case,” the Madras High Court noted.
The Madras High Court, considering the nature of the allegations, the fact that the petitioner was already in police custody at the time of the alleged occurrence, the alleged inconsistencies pointed out in the prosecution version, agreed to grant bail to Shankar subject to stringent conditions.
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