The Supreme Court has granted anticipatory bail to Shajan Skaria, editor and publisher of YouTube channel Marunadan Malayali, who was facing a case under the SC/ST Act for his allegedly derogatory remarks made against Kerala CPM MLA P.V. Sreenijan.
The apex court stated that not every intentional insult or intimidation of a member of a SC/ST community will result into "a feeling of caste-based humiliation". It further added that mere knowledge of the fact that the victim is a member of the SC/ST community is not sufficient to attract the provisions of Section 3(1)(r) of the Act.
Skaria made the derogatory remarks while telecasting a news report regarding the alleged mismanagement of a sports hostel by Sreenijan who was the District Sports Council chairman. He was earlier denied anticipatory bail by trial court and the Kerala High Court.
Who is Shajan Skaria?
Skaria is the founder editor of Marunadan Malayali and British Malayali, both online news portals in Malayalam language. He was formerly a sub-editor at Deepika.
This is not the first time Skaria is facing legal troubles. In August 2023, he was booked for forging a telephone bill dated July 6, 2018.
He was also arrested for spreading communal hatred online. He was also facing charges for leaking the message on police wireless.
