Supreme Court Grants Interim Anticipatory Bail To Kerala Journalist TP Nandakumar In Case Over Video Against Woman Politician

The Supreme Court today (June 18) issued notice in an anticipatory bail plea filed by Kerala-based journalist Nandakumar T.P. in connection with an offence of publishing a defamatory video on his YouTube channel “Crime Online”.

The partial court working days bench comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and Prasanna B Varale also granted interim relief to Petitioner Nandakumar, stating that in the event of his arrest, he shall be enlarged on bail by the jurisdictional trial court upon furnishing bail and bonds to the satisfaction of the investigating officer with a further direction to cooperate in the investigation.

Nandakumar was accused of publishing a YouTube video on his channel “Crime Online” targeting a prominent woman politician. The prosecution alleged that the video contained derogatory, sexually coloured, and threatening remarks intended to insult the victim's modesty and damage her reputation.

An FIR was registered against the petitioner under Section 75(1)(iv) for insulting woman's modesty, Section 79 for Intimidating her and intending reputational harm, and Section 351(1)(2) for disseminating obscene content electronically of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.

The Kerala High Court, by its order dated 09.06.2025, directed the petitioner to surrender first before the police . H approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court's refusal to grant relief.

The matter is listed next after six weeks.

Case Title: Nandakumar T.P. v. State of Kerala & Anr., SLP(Crl) No. 9098/2025