The Supreme Court granted interim bail on Wednesday, 18 June, to Kerala-based journalist TP Nandakumar. He faces allegations of having published a defamatory video against a prominent woman politician on his YouTube channel, ‘Crime Online’.
Booked for ‘Defamatory’ Video, Kerala Scribe TP Nandakumar Gets Bail From SC
The FIR says Nandakumar outraged the modesty of a woman, intimidated her and intended to harm her reputation.
A bench comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Prasanna B Varale gave Nandakumar relief and issued a notice to the Kerala government and the police, seeking their responses to the charges and his arrest.
Nandakumar, who also goes by the moniker ‘Crime’ Nandakumar, will be released by the trial court on the Supreme Court’s direction. The bench has asked the journalist to cooperate with the ongoing police investigation.
The case against Nandakumar stems from an FIR lodged regarding a video that allegedly contained derogatory, sexually coloured and threatening remarks that aimed to tarnish the politician’s reputation.
He was charged under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including those related to outraging a woman’s modesty, criminal intimidation and causing harm to reputation. He was also booked under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 for allegedly disseminating obscene content electronically.
On 9 June, the Kerala High Court had dismissed Nandakumar's request for anticipatory bail and instructed him to surrender to the police. The journalist had challenged the order in the Supreme Court, which will hear the matter again in six weeks.
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