SC gives anticipatory bail to 'Marunadan Malayali' editor charged under SC/ST Act

The Supreme Court has granted anticipatory bail to the editor and publisher of the Malayalam YouTube channel 'Marunadan Malayali' Shajan Skaria who was booked in a criminal case under the SC/ST atrocity act for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Kunnathunadu MLA PV Sreenijan.

The case had created a political slugfest in Kerala as the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called out the anti-democratic way the channel was being targeted. After the case was registered, the police confiscated the gadgets including cameras, desktops and recorders from multiple offices of the channel. The police also seized mobile phones of the employees of the YouTube channel.

SC states there is no whisper of allegation under SC/ST

The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha, while staying the arrest, categorically stated that "there is no whisper of allegation under SC/ST" as they examined the full transcript of the news story. The court minced no words in telling Advocate V Giri representing the MLA that ''merely because your client is a member of SC and he said something nasty to your client, this has no implications on the caste status at all.''

The court further stated the content of the news story may be defamatory but does not invite offences under the SC/ST Act.
The CJI questioned the MLA’s counsel if there is even "remotely anything" to suggest that Sreenijan was "humiliated on the ground that he belonged to Scheduled Caste".

Chief Justice also remarked that the Kerala High Court had written ‘a strong order’ and he had to go into the statements deeply. “Sometimes, the stronger the order is, you have to be more careful in looking into it,” the apex court noted.

YouTube channel Marunadan Malayali reacts

Sojan Skaria, brother of Sajan, who took over the responsibility of the channel, spoke exclusively to Republic Digital. "We believed in the judiciary strongly. We were expecting this as we thoroughly believed that Apex Court will always stand for justice. We are also excited about the verdict. The best part about this judgment was our lawyer didn’t even have to argue the case. The honourable bench could see through the misuse of the act,” he said.

Marunadan Malayali is learnt to have moved the court against the seizure of its equipment by the police, confirmed Peeyush, senior reporter of the channel.