The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to Kerala-based journalist Nandakumar TP in connection with an alleged defamatory video uploaded on his YouTube channel ‘Crime Online’ targeting a prominent woman politician.
The partial court working days Bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Prasanna B Varale held that in the event of Nandakumar’s arrest, he shall be enlarged on bail by the jurisdictional trial court upon furnishing bail and bonds to the satisfaction of the investigating officer with a further direction to cooperate in the investigation.
The prosecution argued that the video contained sexually-coloured, derogatory, and threatening remarks intended to insult the modesty of the female politician and damage her reputation.
An FIR was registered against the journalist under Section 75(1)(iv) for insulting a woman’s modesty, Section 79 for intimidating a woman & intending reputational harm, and Section 351(1)(2) for disseminating obscene content electronically of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.
On June 9, 2025, the Kerala High Court directed Nandakumar to surrender before the police.
The Apex Court granted anticipatory bail to Nandakumar and posted the matter for further hearing after six weeks.