TN BJP leader, facing arrest for post against women journalists, gets SC relief
New Delhi: BJP leader from Tamil Nadu, S. Ve. Shekhar, who forwarded a misogynistic post about woman journalists, got some relief from the Supreme Court today.
S. Ve. Shekhar was facing flak and an immediate arrest after his Facebook post infuriated people on social media.
The post, which he later deleted, abused women journalists, saying they are illiterate, stupid and ugly. It further accused them of getting ahead in their profession by granting sexual favours.
Read: Can't be reporters without sleeping with bigwigs: TN BJP leader writes, deletes post
The Supreme Court on Tuesday warded off the possibility of any immediate arrest and issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu police after S. Ve. Shekhar's lawyer argued that his client just forwarded the message, and later deleted it and apologised.
The post also contained derogatory comments about the young woman journalist who had objected to being patted on the cheek by Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit at an official programme.
Also Read: TN Governor pats woman journalist on cheek, without consent, sparks uproar
The woman journalist, the post said, only intended to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Governor "should wash his hands with phenyl" for touching her.
The leader's defence - that he had forwarded the post without reading its contents - failed to placate the state's women activists and politicians like DMK's Kanimozhi, who demanded his immediate arrest. A case was lodged against him following a complaint by the Tamil Nadu Journalist Protection Welfare Association.
The Madras High Court, where he appealed for anticipatory bail, refused to grant it. In its order, the court said forwarding a message on social media, be it read or not, amounted to accepting and endorsing it.
