Youtuber Felix Gerald moves Delhi HC against T.N. Police over illegal detention

YouTuber Felix Gerald alleges human rights violation by Tamil Nadu Police, seeks compensation, Supreme Court stays channel shutdown.

YouTuber Felix Gerald on Monday moved the Delhi High Court alleging gross violation of his human rights and liberty by the Tamil Nadu Police, which reportedly detained him after he interviewed another YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar on his channel.

Mr. Gerald, in his plea in the High Court, stated that in the interview, Mr. Shankar highlighted the alleged targeting of Savukku Media, his news outlet, by the ruling party of Tamil Nadu. Soon after the interview, the Tamil Nadu Police filed an FIR against Mr. Shankar alleging that he made derogatory remarks against female police personnel in the interview. Mr. Gerald’s channel was also named as second accused in the FIR, and he was then called by the police for interrogation.

The petitioner then approached the Press Council of India (PCI) in person, praying for an urgent intervention to safeguard his rights as a journalist. In his plea, Mr. Gerald said he had decided to skip the police’s summons as he was in Delhi and had an appointment to meet the PCI office-bearers.

“Since the petitioner had an appointment with the Chairperson of the PCI on May 11, 2024, he planned to extend his stay in Delhi for another two days. However, at 11.03 p.m. on the night of October 10, 2024, he was unexpectedly abducted by unknown persons claiming to be police personnel from Tamil Nadu,” the plea alleged. It was further stated that Mr. Gerald got to know that he was picked up in connection with the FIR against Mr. Shankar pertaining to his interview.

He alleged that he was neither provided with a copy of the FIR nor informed of the grounds for his arrest, which are clear violations of legal rights. He also alleged that the police never told his family his whereabouts and never even produced him in court within 24 hours of detention, which is a prescribed procedure as per the law. He alleged that he had been kept in illegal detention for 66 hours.

Mr. Gerald sought a direction to the State of Tamil Nadu and police to pay ₹1 crore as compensation for the pain, suffering, humiliation, and loss of reputation caused to him. On July 31, the Madras High Court granted him bail, with a directive to shut down his YouTube channel.

The Supreme Court, however, stayed that order. Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri granted the applicant time to file additional documents in support of his case. The matter has been listed for hearing on December 16.