The Supreme Court on Friday came down heavily on Kerala-based journalist Nandakumar TP for allegedly posting a defamatory video targeting a prominent woman politician on his YouTube channel "Crime Online".

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and K V Viswanathan remarked, "You want to convict people based on your YouTube videos? Conviction or acquittal doesn't happen based on a YouTube video. Courts do that."

Urging the journalist to focus on positive narratives, the bench added, "Say some nice things on YouTube. Why do you put this crime online, etc.? Something nice happening in Kerala, God's own country, speak about that."

Charges against Nandakumar

Nandakumar has been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for offences including outraging a woman's modesty, intimidation, intent to cause reputational harm, and electronic dissemination of obscene content.

He also faces charges under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, which deals with the publication or transmission of obscene material in electronic form.

Police and court proceedings

The Kerala Police alleged that the YouTube video contained sexually coloured, threatening, and derogatory remarks designed to humiliate and defame the woman leader.

Earlier, the Kerala High Court had on June 9 denied Nandakumar anticipatory bail and directed him to surrender before the police.

Challenging the order, the journalist approached the Supreme Court, which on Friday extended the interim bail granted to him.

With PTI inputs