The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail
to a Kerala-based journalist booked by the police for allegedly publishing a
defamatory video against a prominent woman politician on his YouTube channel
"Crime Online".
A bench comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and
Prasanna B Varale issued notice to the Kerala government and the station house
officer of the police station concerned on the anticipatory bail plea of
journalist Nandakumar TP.
Taking note of the submissions, the bench said in
the event of arrest, the journalist will be released on bail by the trial court
upon on a bond and sureties as directed by the judge.
It also directed the journalist to cooperate with
the ongoing investigation.
An FIR was lodged against the journalist under the
provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for offences of outraging a woman's
modesty, intimidation and intent to cause reputational harm, and dissemination
of obscene content electronically.
He was also booked under Section 67 of the
Information Technology Act which penalises publication or transmission of
obscene material in electronic form.
The state police alleged a YouTube video posted by
Nandakumar contained derogatory, sexually coloured, and threatening remarks
aimed at humiliating and tarnishing the reputation of the woman leader.
The Kerala High Court on June 9 declined to grant
Nandakumar anticipatory bail and directed him to surrender before the police.
The high court order was challenged in the top
court, which posted the plea after six weeks.