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Amid row, Tamil Nadu activist defends his remark against judiciary
A Shankar made the submission before a bench of justice GR Swaminathan and justice B Pugalendhi and the case was adjourned to September 8 after he sought time to file his reply.
Whistle-blower-turned-activist A Shankar, popularly known as ‘Savukku’ Shankar, who appeared before the Madurai bench of Madras HC on Thursday, accepted that he has made “the entire higher judiciary is riddled with corruption” comments.
The Madras HC has initiated a suo motu contempt case against him for the remark.
Shankar made the submission before a bench of justice GR Swaminathan and justice B Pugalendhi and the case was adjourned to September 8 after he sought time to file his reply.
When contacted, Shankar shared his blogpost, where he had narrated Thursday’s court proceedings. “My statement will be fully defended and I will be using this opportunity to expose how the judiciary has become porous and how people have completely lost faith in the judiciary,” Shankar said.
“... the judges appointing judges has enabled the judiciary to make whimsical appointments and how the judges, who are drawing salary from tax payers money, are literally not accountable to any one and behave like gods.”
Shankar informed the court that he was going to argue his own case as a few advocates he approached were reluctant to represent him. When justice Pugalendhi offered to appoint a legal aid for him and asked if he had any request, Shankar said he desired for DMK Rajya Sabha MP and senior counsel NR Elango to represent him.
Another suo moto contempt proceedings was initiated against Shankar in July by justice Swaminathan for criminal contempt of court for his tweet against him and his court judgments.
The tweet in question is said to imply that the judge was influenced when he quashed a first information report (FIR) in December 2021 against controversial YouTuber M Maridhas who has the backing of the BJP.
The Madras HC on August 23 restricted Shankar from making statements against DMK minister Senthil Balaji after the latter had filed a case that Shankar was running a smear campaign against him through videos and tweets.
Shankar was a former clerk in the Tamil Nadu’s directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC). He was arrested by the then DMK government in 2008 for leaking an audio tape of two top officials.
After his release, he turned into a whistle-blower. He launched a website in 2009 called Savukku, meaning whip, where he exposes corruption and writes about government officials, politicians, journalists, lawyers and high court judges. His leaks include tapes related to the sensational 2G spectrum allocation scam.
