Madras HC grants bail to Felix Gerald, orders closure of his 'RedPix 24x7' YouTube channel

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered to shut down 'RedPix 24x7' YouTube channel and granted bail to its founder Felix Gerald in a case booked for publishing an interview with 'Savukku' Shankar in which purported defamatory comments against women police personnel were made.

Justice TV Thamilselvi while allowing the journalist's bail plea also ordered him not to give any interview during his bail period. Felix was arrested under sections 294 (b), 353, 509, 109, and 201 of the IPC, and section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The petitioner submitted that he must have avoided such remarks against women police personnel and expressed his regret. Further, he filed an affidavit giving an undertaking that he would not indulge in such defaming acts in the future.

Senior counsel R John Sathyan representing Felix submitted that his client has been a journalist for several years and was running the YouTube channel to battle against social evils. The alleged interview was conducted and certain questions were asked to expose the shortcomings of the State administration, said the counsel.

There are several hundreds of defaming video content on social media platforms but the State is adopting a pick-and-choose method and victimized his client, the counsel added.

Since his client has been in confinement for more than 80 days and he was fully aware of the repercussions, he can be granted bail, the counsel stated.

However, the State advocate objected to the submissions and submitted that the petitioner was a repeated offender of defaming others.

In another case of a similar nature, the petitioner has filed an affidavit before the court stating that he would not indulge in any defaming act in the future, but he had again made the same offense, said the government advocate while refusing to accept Felix's affidavit.

With the motive to make money, the petitioner conducted interviews with controversial content, the advocate said, and sought the court to close down the petitioner's YouTube channel.

After the submission, the judge granted bail to Felix Gerald with the condition that he close down his YouTube channel and not give any interviews.