CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday refused to quash the criminal case filed against actor-politician SVe Shekhar for posting derogatory posts against women journalists on social media in 2018.
Dismissing his petitions seeking to quash the case regarding denigrating women journalists, Justice Anand Venkatesh said, “The apology tendered and the explanation given by him that he had forwarded the message inadvertently cannot be acted upon. On this ground, the criminal case cannot be quashed.”
He added the issue that whether the petitioner had inadvertently forwarded the message is a matter of evidence and such a defence shall be established in the trial court which has to decide on it based on the evidence.
A person who forwards such messages that have ‘derogatory contents’ must also be equally prepared to face the consequences, the judge said.
He also refused to quash another case filed against him for allegedly defaming the image of the then Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy in 2020.
Justice Anand Venkatesh ordered the transfer of these cases to the special court hearing cases against MP/MLAs for ‘expeditious trial’ which shall be completed within six months.
While dismissing these two petitions, he allowed another petition filed by the actor seeking to quash another case filed for disrespecting the national flag.
