Supreme Court: In a significant move to crack a whip against the social media violators who posted obscene and vulgar posts without any diligence, Supreme Court on Friday refused to quash the trial against the actor and former Tamil Naidu MLA S. V Shekhar for updating a post that insulted women journalists.
The Apex Court has rejected the plea of the 72-year-old actor. However, multiple cases have been registered against Shekhar after sharing the post on Facebook.
The lawyer of Shekhar informed that the former MLA had deleted the post from his Facebook profile and also sought an unconditional apology. He further as
id Shekhar has a huge fan following on social media, and he inadvertently shared someone’s post without reading it. His vision was disturbed at the time of posting as he had put some eye drop medicine into his eyes. The actor’s lawyers further said that the post had gone viral in no time.
His lawyer adds that the actor comes from a reputed family and he has a deep respect for women journalists. he had taken medicines into his eyes due to which he couldn’t able to read the contents and shared it accidentally.
The bench of justices expressed surprise that how the actor could share a post without reading it. Justice BR Gavai and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra said it is sheer negligence and refused to interfere in trial proceedings.
The bench said, “The actor should face trial. One has to be very careful while using social media. One has to be diligent. Using social media is not necessary but if one is using it then one should be ready to face consequences.”
The Journalists’ Association filed a criminal case against the actor in 2018. Shekhar has moved to the apex court after his plea to quash his criminal trial is rejected by the Madras High Court.
The actor’s lawyers pleaded to exempt his personal appearance in the court but The Supreme Court refused the plea and ordered him to approach the trial judge with the plea
