Consider plea to shift ‘Savukku’ Shankar from Coimbatore central prison to any other prison: Madras High Court

Madras High Court closes habeas corpus petition after directing prison authorities to consider shifting YouTuber 'Savukku' Shankar.

The Madras High Court on Thursday, May 9, 2024 closed a habeas corpus petition (HCP) filed by the mother of YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar alias A. Shankar after directing the prison authorities to consider her representation for shifting her son from Coimbatore central prison to any other prison since she complained of custodial violence and feared threat to his life.

Justices A.D. Jagadish Chandira and R. Kalaimathi passed the orders after hearing senior counsel R. John Sathyan for the petitioner A. Kamala and Additional Public Prosecutor E. Raj Thilak for the prison authorities. The judges also took note that Mr Shankar had been taken to Coimbatore Government Medical College Hospital on Thursday for examining his complaint of pain in the right forearm.

Pointing out the habeas corpus petition had been filed seeking a judicial inquiry into the alleged custodial violence, the judges told the petitioner’s counsel that the prisoner himself had filed a similar petition before the Coimbatore Judicial Magistrate IV who, in turn, had directed a team from the District Legal Services Authority to visit him in the prison along with a doctor.

The team had submitted a report to the Judicial Magistrate stating that the prisoner had complained of pain in his right forearm and therefore, it was essential to take an x-ray and also get an opinion from a plastic surgeon. The Magistrate had passed an order on Wednesday directing the Coimbatore prison authorities to take him to the medical college hospital forthwith for examination.

While passing the order, the Magistrate had refrained from going into the merits of the allegations of custodial violence since it was not clear whether the injuries had been sustained due to the alleged attack or during a road accident that occurred on May 4 when the prisoner was transported to Coimbatore after his arrest in Theni in a case booked for speaking ill about women police personnel, the APP said.

He also stoutly denied any kind of attack on the remand prisoner by the prison officials. However, Mr. Sathyan said, the petitioner would take up the issue of custodial violence with the Human Rights Commission. Now, since there was a serious apprehension of threat to the prisoner’s life in the Coimbatore central prison, he insisted on shifting him to any other prison in the State.