The Madras High Court has granted anticipatory bail to political commentator V. Ponraj in two criminal cases registered against him for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the women supporters of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay and the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

Justice R. Sakthivel granted the relief on the condition that the petitioner must appear before the Cyber Crime Wing in Chennai twice (on Tuesdays and Fridays) a week. The accused was also directed to appear before the Cuddalore police once a week (on Sundays) until further orders.

Apart from these mandatory appearances, the accused must make himself available for interrogation by the police as and when required and he should not, directly or indirectly, cause any threat to the witnesses and shall not tamper with the evidence, the court ordered.

It also directed him to furnish his residential address and mobile number to the judicial magistrates concerned, before whom he had to execute a bond along with two sureties, and made it clear that the magistrates could initiate action against him if any of the conditions were violated.

While observing that the intent behind the statement made by the accused was a matter for trial, the judge said that the petitioner, who claims to be a respectable personality in society, should be very careful with his choice of words while giving interviews to YouTube channels.

“In today’s digital era, once a statement is made, that too in a digital platform, it cannot be easily withdrawn. Though the petitioner/accused claims his statement to be one of societal interest, he ought to have exercised utmost care and caution before making a statement which could turn out to be morally provocative one,” the court observed.

Nevertheless, considering the fact that the peitioner has deep roots in society and the chances of absconding were less, the judge decided to grant him the relief of conditional advance bail. He also took note that the YouTube interview containing the derogatory remarks had been deleted.

The judge directed the petitioner to execute a bond for a sum of ₹25,000 along with two sureties for a likesum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional judicial magistrates in order to avail of the remedy of pre-arrest bail.