SC relief for Marunadan Malayali editor Shajan Skariah; he will not be arrested

The prosecution's case against Marunadan Malayali Chief Editor Shajan Skariah was that a particular news item made false, and unsubstantiated claims against the de facto complainant, a member of the scheduled caste, to degrade him.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday granted temporary protection from arrest to Shajan Skariah, the editor and publisher of the Malayalam YouTube News Channel "Marunadan Malayali' in a criminal case under the SC/ST Act including making derogatory statements against MLA PV Sreenijin. The judgement was made by the bench made up of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha in response to a special leave petition filed by Skariah challenging the Kerala High Court's dismissal of his appeal against the Special Court's denial of anticipatory bail in the case. Sreenijin's complaint led to the filing of the FIR.

The CJI said, " His statements may be defamatory, but these are not offences under the SC/ST Act. He may have said something against the father-in-law (of the complainant), judiciary etc, which may be in bad taste."

The lawyer appearing for Sreenijin underlined that Skariah used severely insulting statements calling Sreenijin a 'mafia don', 'black money dealer', 'murderer' etc. 

"Such comments may be defamatory, but not offences under SC/ST Act. We agree that these statements are in bad taste, we disapprove of his statement", CJI said.

Earlier on June 30, the Kerala High Court refused to give anticipatory bail to the Chief editor of Marunadan Malayali Shajan Skariah. Following the earlier denial of his anticipatory bail by a Special Court, Shajan—who is also the publisher of the YouTube channel—filed an appeal with the court.

According to High Court judge VG Arun who heard the case, there are remarks meant to degrade MLA Sreenijin in the relevant video broadcast by Marunadan. The channel has accused Sreenijin of murder, "insinuation against" his father-in-law, and "aspersions on nameless judicial officers," among other things. The judge pointed out that the alleged video also referred to the MLA as a "Mafia Don."

Skariah had telecast a news report alleging maladministration of the Sports Hostel at the instance of Sreenijin, in his capacity as the Chairman, of the Districts Sports Council. Skaria got upset by the Special Court's refusal to grant him anticipatory bail after the MLA filed a criminal case against him under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.