Madras High Court dismisses plea by Savukku Shankar to donate books to Cuddalore Prison

The Madras High Court Monday dismissed a petition filed by YouTuber Savukku Shankar challenging The Tamil Nadu (TN) Prisons Department's order that had refused to accept his offer to donate books to the Cuddalore Prison. .Justice CV Karthikeyan refused to quash the January 9 notice of the TN Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services that had refused to accept Shankar's offer to donate 76 books, which the YouTuber said, were worth ₹15,620.Justice Karthikeyan said that Shankar's plea did not explain how the said books "would be useful to the prisoners?" The Court also noted that the "petitioner himself had not read the books before presenting his case before the High Court." While dismissing his plea, the Court said that in his affidavit, Shankar had merely listed out the titles and the authors of the 76 books that he wished to donate, but, he had not provided any summary of the books, or explained what the books were about. In his plea, Shankar had said that while he was lodged in the Cuddalore Prison last year in a contempt of court case, he had realised that the inmates there were eager to read books, and therefore, there was a need to have a proper library at the Prison. Accordingly, he sent a representation to the Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services stating his intention to donate the books, and providing the titles and other details of books he intended to donate. However, his offer was rejected by the authorities citing "administrative reasons," Shankar said in his plea. Shankar claimed that the rejection was due to "ulterior motives at the behest of the Tamil Nadu government." He said that as per procedure, the prison authorities should have gone through the list of books and accepted those books that it found "non-controversial.".The list that Shankar attached in his affidavit filed before the High Court included books on Ambedkar, Nelson Mandela, Rajaraja Chola, and an abridged version of historical fiction Ponniyin Selvan. In September last year, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had held Shankar guilty of criminal contempt for his remarks on the higher judiciary and sentenced him to six months of simple imprisonment. In November 11, 2022, however, the Supreme Court had suspended Shankar's sentence.