Soni Satti
The Madras High Court stays the trial court’s framing of charges against actor S Ve Shekher in a case filed against him for sharing a derogatory post about female journalists on social media. Justice N Sathish Kumar, while granting the interim relief, questioned the accused and asked, “How are you saying that you did not read the post. Are you illiterate? How can you forward a post without even reading it?”
In response, the petitioner’s lawyer, Venkatesh Mahadevan, stated that the post was deleted within two hours and that the petitioner had given a public apology. After hearing the petitioner, Justice Sathish Kumar stated, “Forwarding is also an offense. Tendering an apology may help you during the trial. But can the prosecution be quashed because you have tendered an apology?”
In April 2018 Shekher shared a note on his social media account April 2018 in response to Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit’s apology to a woman journalist for patting her cheek without her permission. Apart from the current court case, the actor claims that three other private lawsuits for the same offense were lodged against him. The court ordered the prosecution to file a counterclaim and ordered the trial court to refrain from framing charges in the event. The court also waived the petitioner’s deposition in front of the trial court and rescheduled the hearing for April 16.