‘Savukku’ Shankar presents falsehoods as facts for financial gain, IPS officer Arun alleges before Madras High Court

YouTuber A. Shankar alias ‘Savukku’ Shankar has repeatedly demonstrated a propensity to make false statements, fabricate narratives, and disseminate misleading information to the people for the purpose of sensationalism, personal vilification, public attention, online engagement, and financial gain, Indian Police Service (IPS) officer A. Arun has alleged before the Madras High Court.

Filing a defamation suit seeking damages of ₹1 crore, Mr. Arun accused the YouTuber of giving a false impression to the people as if he possessed confidential, authentic, and inside information concerning senior police officers, politicians, public servants, businessmen, corporate entities, and others in positions of responsibility, though he actually presents falsehood as facts.

Justice K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi has granted time till September 16, 2026, for Mr. Shankar to respond to the allegations. After hearing senior counsel P.H. Arvindh Pandian for the plaintiff, the judge granted time for the YouTuber’s counsel K. Gowtham Kumar and also advocate Arun C. Mohan for X Corporation to file their counter affidavits to the plaintiff’s applications for interim injunction.

In his plaint, Mr. Arun, a 1998 batch IPS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, said he had earned a high degree of respect, reputation, and goodwill throughout his career. He also claimed to have been recognised for his integrity, honesty, professional competence, discipline, and commitment to public service. However, the YouTuber had been targetting the plaintiff for quite sometime, he said.

“The first defendant (Mr. Shankar) has repeatedly abused the freedom of speech and expression and has sought to misuse online platforms for the purpose of tarnishing and damaging the reputation, character, integrity, and professional standing of the plaintiff...The defamatory publications are gravely injurious to personal reputation, professional standing, and family life,” the plaint read.

Listing links to all the offending YouTube videos, X posts, and other defamatory content posted against him by the defendant on social media platforms, Mr. Arun said the YouTuber’s activities were commercially driven, and he was gaining financial incentive to publish sensational falsehoods and defamatory material capable of attracting maximum viewership and engagement.

The court was told that the YouTuber had termed the senior IPS officer a ‘gangster,’ a ‘coolie’ working for political masters, a person who manipulates the criminal justice system for extraneous purposes, a corrupt individual, and so on. In most of the videos, the IPS officer had been referred to by name, and in others, he had been described as ‘Ice cream officer’ or just ‘ice cream,’ the plaint said.

Denying the allegations levelled against him in those videos and X posts, Mr. Arun said the YouTuber had on July 15, 2026, falsely tweeted that there was an income tax search at the residence of the plaintiff and the latter’s wife B. Yamuna Devi, an Indian Revenue Service officer, was also facing corruption charges. Attributing the false information to Central government sources, the tweet had also carried the photographs of the couple.

The plaintiff said the tweet was edited on the same day and replaced with another false, imaginary, and malicious claim that the officials from the Directorate of Enforcement had arrived at the IPS officer’s residence for conducting a search. “The use of photographs coupled with the sensational headline and false attribution to Central government sources was calculated to lend a false appearance of authenticity,” he added.