The Chennai police on Saturday, September 24, detained Indian National League (INL) leader ‘Tada’ J Abdul Rahim, for trying to hold a hunger strike in solidarity with whistleblower and former Tamil Nadu Vigilance Department official ‘Savukku’ Shankar, despite being denied permission to do so. The strike, which was held near the Chennai Collectorate around 11.30 am on Saturday, September 24, was attended by social activists and leaders of a number of other political parties besides the INL, despite the ‘no’ from the police. Meanwhile, a Chennai police official said that permission was denied because the matter was still under the judiciary’s consideration.
Before going to the protest site, Abdul Rahim told TNM that there was a political motive behind the arrest of 'Savukku' Shankar, and that the protesters’ main demand is to repeal the six-month jail sentence given to him on the charge of contempt of court. “We have every right to peacefully gather at one place for a protest and seek a review of the order. But the police denied us permission. This indicates the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government's involvement in his arrest. Otherwise, why are the government and police not allowing a peaceful protest,” he asked.
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The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had held Savukku Shankar guilty of criminal contempt, stating that he had “shown no remorse” despite similar contempt cases against him, and sentenced him to six months of simple imprisonment for remarks against the judiciary. The case pertained to six separate comments made by Shankar in the interviews he had given to two YouTube channels, and in an article he had written and published on the website savukkuonline.com.
In an interview to the YouTube channel News Sense, Shankar had alleged that the judges do not work on behalf of the people. “They work for luxuries such as a car and for the benefit of those with money, so why should the general public respect them? You do not give justice to us. You give justice only for the politician, for the rich and powerful,” he had said.
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