Overview
- The Tamil Nadu government revoked the Goondas Act preventive detention order on May 19 after the state advisory board under the Act unanimously found no sufficient cause to continue holding A. Shankar.
- The advisory board examined the detaining authority’s records and heard Shankar’s oral representation before issuing its recommendation to the Home Department.
- The Madras High Court has separately granted conditional bail in at least two matters, including a defamation/extortion case tied to the film Red and Follow, and has ordered Shankar to appear daily at Adambakkam police station.
- Prosecutors allege Shankar demanded Rs 10 lakh to remove an allegedly defamatory post, assaulted producer P. Mahesh during a meeting and took Rs 1 lakh from him, charges that remain in active criminal proceedings.
- This is the third time a preventive detention against Shankar has been set aside, a sequence that highlights continuing judicial and statutory checks on the use of preventive detention and leaves open questions about how authorities will pursue the remaining criminal cases.