Madras High Court allows contempt notice to Felix Gerald at Minorities Commission office
Madras High Court permits a real estate firm to serve a suo motu contempt notice on T.N. Minorities Commission chairman Felix Gerald at his office.
The Madras High Court on Friday permitted G-Square Realtors Private Limited to serve a suo motu contempt of court notice on Tamil Nadu Minorities Commission chairman Felix Gerald at the commission's office in Chennai.
Justice K. Kumaresh Babu passed the order on a memo moved by the real estate firm's counsel, who sought permission to effect service at the commission's office since Mr. Gerald was appointed to the post after the contempt proceedings began.
The judge directed that both the court notice and the private notice be served at the minorities commission's office. Notices sent earlier to a residential address in Nungambakkam had come back with an endorsement that no such person was available there.
Proceedings against the YouTuber
During the hearing, G-Square's counsel made certain accusations against YouTuber A. Shankar, known as 'Savukku' Shankar, against whom the firm had filed a contempt petition in 2024. It was while hearing that matter that the judge initiated suo motu proceedings against Mr. Gerald in April 2026.
The counsel contended that Mr. Shankar was continuing to defy a 2023 court order. That direction required him to email the real estate firm before making any public statement against it, wait 72 hours for a reply, and then issue the statement together with any response received.
The advocate complained that the YouTuber was still making public statements in breach of the order. As Mr. Shankar's counsel reported that he would no longer represent him, the judge directed the Registry to remove the advocate's name from the cause list and print Mr. Shankar's name instead.
Background of the dispute
In 2022, G-Square filed a civil suit seeking ₹1 crore in damages with interest at 12% from the date of filing until realisation, over allegedly defamatory allegations made by the YouTuber.
Alongside the suit, the firm sought an interim injunction restraining Mr. Shankar, his agents, employees or anyone acting through him from making, printing, writing, posting or publishing defamatory or slanderous material against the company. On September 8, 2022, Justice C.V. Karthikeyan granted the interim injunction, finding that the statements would prima facie affect the realtor's normal course of business and did not appear to be based on facts.
In 2023, the YouTuber moved an application to vacate the injunction. Justice Babu disposed of it on June 26, 2023, modifying the 2022 order and requiring Mr. Shankar to put the company on notice before making any public statement against it.
The firm later filed the present contempt petition in 2024, referring to an interview Mr. Shankar gave to the RedPix YouTube channel run by Mr. Gerald. After viewing the interview, the judge was of the view that Mr. Gerald also appeared to have committed contempt of court and ordered notice to him as well.