The Supreme Court on Friday denied interim protection from arrest to Bharatiya Janata Party leader S Ve Shekher who had shared a Facebook post with derogatory remarks about female journalists, reported The Hindu. The court had on May 22 provided him protection till June 1.

After advocate Yogesh Kanna, who represented the Tamil Nadu government, informed the court that the state has filed a chargesheet in the case, the vacation bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Mohan M Shantanagoudar asked Shekher to appear before the magistrate court and apply for regular bail. “If a chargesheet has been filed, it is a norm that the accused appear before the court,” said Justice Rao.

The bench initially asked Shekher to appear before the magistrate within two weeks. But his advocate said he would appear only after the magistrate issues summons.

Shekher had approached the Madras High Court on April 24 seeking anticipatory bail in a case registered with the Cyber Crime Cell of the Central Crime Branch in Chennai. On May 10, the High Court rejected Shekher’s plea. He then moved the Supreme Court.

The Tamil Nadu Journalist and Protection Association had filed a police complaint after Shekher shared a Facebook post on April 19 titled, “Madurai University, Governor and the Virgin Cheeks of a Girl”, from the account of a user named Thirumalai S, about Governor Banwarilal Purohit patting a journalist on her cheek during a press conference. “Recent complaints show that they [journalists] cannot become reporters or anchors without sleeping with big shots,” the post read, according to NDTV.