YouTuber Felix Gerald on Monday filed a complaint in the Delhi High Court accusing the Tamil Nadu police of human rights violations. Gerald claimed that the Tamil Nadu police detained him illegally. While hearing the petition, Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri gave him time to submit more documents to support his claim.
YouTuber seeks compensation of Rs 1 crore
Felix Gerald was arrested for airing an “objectionable” interview of another YouTuber Savukku Shankar on his YouTube channel “RedPix 24×7”. In this interview, objectionable comments were made about the Madras High Court and women police officers in Tamil Nadu.
The petition filed by Gerald’s lawyers Surya Prakash and Avinash Kumar sought compensation of Rs 1 crore from the Tamil Nadu government and several policemen. The petition states that on April 30, Gerald interviewed Savukku Shankar, a critic and journalist at “Savukku Media”, in which Savukku pointed the finger at the ruling party in Tamil Nadu.
Subsequently, on May 4, the Coimbatore police arrested Shankar for his remarks against a female police officer. Gerald’s YouTube channel is also named as a defendant in the FIR.
The petition states that Gerald was forcibly taken away by “unidentified persons” from the Tamil Nadu police while in Delhi at around 11pm on May 10. He was neither given a copy of the FIR nor informed of the basis for the arrest. The police did not even inform his family of the action.
The hearing will now be held on December 16
Gerald claimed that police brought him to Trichy Court on May 13, 66 hours after his arrest. The Madras High Court granted him bail on July 31 but directed him to shut down his YouTube channel.
However, the Supreme Court stayed the Madras High Court order. Now in the Delhi High Court, Gerald is demanding justice against the Tamil Nadu police, alleging “human rights violations”. The next hearing in the case will be held on December 16.
