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The Madras High Court has initiated suo motu contempt of court proceedings against Felix Gerald, a YouTuber who is now a member of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), for an interview he previously conducted with YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar alias A. Shankar with respect to G-Square Realtors Private Limited.
Justice K. Kumaresh Babu has initiated the suo motu proceedings and ordered the issuance of a court notice to Mr. Gerald, requiring him to explain why he should not be proceeded against for contempt of court. The newly impleaded contemnor has been given time till April 24, 2026, to submit his explanation.
What is the case about?
The issue relates to a civil suit filed by the real estate company in 2022 against Mr. Shankar, demanding damages of ₹1 crore, along with interest at the rate of 12% from the date of filing of the suit till its realisation, for having made certain defamatory allegations against it.
Pending adjudication of the civil suit, it had also filed an application seeking an interim injunction restraining Mr. Shankar, his agents, employees, or anyone – whether under him or through him – from making, printing, writing, posting, or publishing any defamatory allegations or slanderous material against the real estate company.
On September 8, 2022, Justice C.V. Karthikeyan granted the interim injunction after being convinced that the alleged defamatory statements made by Mr. Shankar would prima facie affect the normal course of business of the realtor and that they did not appear to be based on facts.
Thereafter, in 2023, the YouTuber filed an application to vacate the interim injunction. Justice Babu disposed of that application on June 26, 2023, by making certain modifications to the 2022 order. The judge insisted that Mr. Shankar put the real estate company on notice before making any public statements against it.
He directed Mr. Shankar to send an e-mail to G-Square before making any statement and wait for 72 hours. “If any response is received within 72 hours, then the applicant may make a statement and in doing so, he shall also publish the response received by him with prominence. If no such response is received within the aforesaid period, he shall proceed to publish the article,” the judge had ordered.
After this order, G-Square filed a contempt of court petition against Mr. Shankar in 2024. During the course of the hearing of the contempt petition on March 27, 2026, a transcript of the 2024 interview was placed before the court.
“A perusal of the said interview would indicate that the contemnor during the course of the interview had expressed that if a question is put to him with regard to G-Square whether it will be possible for him to immediately answer or wait for 72 hrs to give an answer to the question. The host had also responded by saying that the order cannot be understood in such a manner,” the judge wrote after watching the interview.
He went on to write: “When a categorical direction has been issued to the contemnor, the understanding of the contemnor whether he has to wait for 72 hours for a question that has been put up to him is in direct violation of the order passed against him. The host also had expressed his view that the order could not be understood in such a manner.”
Observing that the host, Mr. Gerald, too appeared to have committed contempt of court orders, the judge called for his residential address and initiated the suo motu contempt proceedings.
English (US) ·