SC issues notice on TN YouTuber's plea for CBI probe into irregularities in state schemes
A bench comprising Chief justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria was also informed by Shankar's counsel that his house was vandalised after he filed a plea seeking the CBI probe.
Shankar alleged large-scale misappropriation of funds under the state's AABCS and NAMASTE schemes.
These schemes originally intended to benefit scheduled caste entrepreneurs and sanitation workers.
The plea claimed the schemes were hijacked by ineligible beneficiaries, aided by private entities, through unlawful government outsourcing and political interference.
'Because I raised these issues, my house was vandalised. I asked for a fair investigation by the CBI, but that has been refused, therefore, I have challenged that as well,' his counsel said.
The Madras High Court declined his plea saying such a move could affect the work already done by the state police.
The court instead directed the authorities to conclude the probe and file a final report within 12 weeks.
Notably, the high court disposed of Shankar's petition without ordering a CBI probe but directed a re-evaluation of tender awardees under the scheme to ensure compliance with eligibility norms.
The top court also made a passing reference to Shankar's prior conviction for criminal contempt of court.
"Earlier you were hauled up for contempt," one of the judges remarked.
Shankar's counsel said an unconditional apology was submitted.
'That's what everybody does…malign somebody, then offer an unconditional apology,' Justice Chandran said.
The contempt reference was over Shankar's comments in a 2022 YouTube interview, which led to a suo motu contempt case by the Madras High Court and a six-month imprisonment sentence.
The top court on September 25, last year ordered his release after Shankar was detained right after his release under the Tamil Nadu Goondas Act.
He was facing around 15 criminal cases then.
Shankar was then arrested by Coimbatore Police from southern Theni on May 4 for alleged derogatory statements about women police personnel and some Madras High Court judges in an interview on the YouTube channel "RedPix 24x7" on April 30, which led to several FIRs against him.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
16 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
SC seeks Centre, BCI response on PIL for four yrs LLB course like B Tech
New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the response of the Centre, University Grants Commission and Bar Council of India on a PIL seeking a direction for setting up a legal education commission to review the syllabus, curriculum and duration of the LLB and LLM courses. SC seeks Centre, BCI response on PIL for four yrs LLB course like B Tech A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi sought the response of the Centre, UGC, BCI and Law Commission of India on the petition by September 9. The top court directed the registry to list all the pending matters on the issue together on September 9. The PIL filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay urged the top court to direct to the Centre to set up a legal education commission or expert committee to review the syllabus, curriculum and duration of the LLB and LLM Courses and take appropriate steps to attract the best talent in the legal profession. The plea further said, "New Education Policy 2020 promotes four-year graduation courses in all professional and academic courses, but BCI has not taken appropriate steps to review the existing syllabus, curriculum and the duration of the LLB and LLM courses". It said the injury caused to the students is extremely large because the five-year duration of BA-LLB and BBA-LLB courses is disproportionate to the course material. "The long period puts excessive financial burden on the middle and lower-class families and they are unable to bear such a heavy financial burden. It takes two more years for a student to become the bread-earner in his family," the plea said. "B. Tech through IITs takes four years of non-superfluous education and that too in a specified field of engineering, whereas BA-LLB or BBА-LLB through the NLU's and various other affiliated colleges consumes five years of a student's precious life while provid ing knowledge of Arts /Commerce, an unrelated and superfluous stream. Hence, the existing five-year course needs to be reviewed by the experts," it said. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The Hindu
35 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Madras High Court directs State to consider plea to enact special legislation for protection of domestic workers in Tamil Nadu
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to consider the plea that had sought a direction to the State to enact a special legislation for the protection of the domestic workers in Tamil Nadu. Justice S. Srimathy directed the State government to consider the plea for special legislation for protection of domestic workers while hearing the petition filed by K. Seethalakshmi of Dindigul, a domestic worker. The petitioner said that she has been working as a domestic worker for the past 30 years. It was widely accepted that domestic employment was a form of labour. Yet, domestic workers were rarely recognised as workers by their employers. Their work was largely unregulated. She said as per Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) policy briefs in 2021, there were a total of 18 lakh domestic workers in Tamil Nadu. She said the State needs to consider legitimising this profession promptly with special attention. There was no adequate legal framework available addressing issues regarding protection of domestic workers, work hours, wages or welfare. Unlike other labourers, domestic workers were excluded from the scope of all existing laws, she said. There were laws to address the protection and welfare of labourers across various industries and many other Acts enacted for the welfare and safety of the labourers of each industry. But, for the protection and welfare of domestic workers, no exclusive Act was enacted, she said, adding that their work was not regulated putting them in the peripheral area of the protection of any law. Hence, the enactment of a new legislation for the domestic workers is imperative at this juncture. The absence of an exclusive legislation will make this group of labourers more vulnerable. Domestic work is a distinctive category, which cannot be brought under other laws and requires meticulous attention, she said. The State government should enact a new legislation to regulate domestic labourers and address issues regarding minimum wage, working hours, terms of employment, duties of employer, regulation of placement agencies, non-employment of child as domestic worker, protection and penalties for violations, welfare and other regulations to protect the domestic workers eventually ensuring social justice, she said.
The Hindu
35 minutes ago
- The Hindu
I stand by you: Shivarajkumar backs Ramya, slams online trolls
Kannada star Shivarajkumar came in support of actor-politician Ramya, who had lodged a complaint with the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, against fans of actor Darshan. Ramya had slammed these fans for sending her offensive messages online. A couple of days before her complaint, Ramya had shared news reports regarding Supreme Court proceedings in the murder case of Renukaswamy, in which Darshan is one of the accused persons. She slammed the fans for sending 'obnoxious' messages on social media. Veteran actor Shivarajkumar backed Ramya, saying 'no woman should face this kind of a situation.' Shivarajkumar took to social media to voice out his opinion. 'Words used against Ramya on social media are condemnable,' he said. 'We must learn to respect women. Social media is a powerful tool. We must use it responsibly. We must not spread hate and jealousy through social media. Ramya is fighting for something meaningful and I stand by her,' wrote Shivarajkumar. ALSO READ: Actor Ramya reacts to Darshan row: No one is above the law Ramya had said that it's high time women spoke about harassment faced on social media. 'The disgruntled fans of actor Darshan have sent scandalous, ghastly and obnoxious messages to my Instagram handle through various accounts. The messages sent to me are so disgusting and misogynistic that I am unable to even reproduce the same in the complaint,' Ramya had said in her complaint.
