SC Slams Tamil Actor SV Shekher For Derogatory Comments Against Women Journalist

The Supreme Court on Friday strongly rebuked Tamil actor-politician SV Shekher over his alleged derogatory social media posts targeting a woman journalist, stating that he had "carried out a nasty campaign against a woman."

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh, while granting Shekher exemption from surrendering until further hearing, noted that he never apologized to the journalist for his conduct, according to a report in PTI.

Court's Stern Remarks

"First of all, we are surprised you are pursuing this. It was a nasty campaign you carried out against a woman. You attacked her dignity directly, and in such a brazen and abrupt manner," the bench remarked.

Justice Kant further questioned Shekher's counsel, advocate Balaji Srinivasan, suggesting that the actor might have a history of harassing women, but this time, he was challenged by a journalist association. Srinivasan argued that Shekher had forwarded the offensive message without reading it, deleted it within an hour, and later apologized.

However, Justice Kant pointed out that the Madras High Court had observed in its order that Shekher never genuinely apologized and issued a statement merely as a formality.

Legal Proceedings & Background

The Supreme Court's remarks came after Shekher's counsel sought four weeks to approach the complainant and persuade her to accept an unconditional apology.

Earlier, on January 2, the Madras High Court had dismissed Shekher's appeal against a one-month imprisonment sentence imposed by a special court for his derogatory social media post targeting the journalist. While upholding the punishment, the High Court had suspended the sentence for 90 days to allow Shekher to appeal in the Supreme Court.

Case Origins

The controversy dates back to 2018, when Shekher allegedly shared a post containing derogatory remarks against the woman journalist. Following a complaint by a journalist association, an FIR was filed against him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act.

On February 19 last year, a special court ruled that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges against Shekher, sentencing him to one month in prison and imposing a fine. The Supreme Court will now decide on the next course of action as the case proceeds.