Supreme Court rebukes cartoonist over posts on PM Modi, grants interim protection
The Supreme Court on Tuesday strongly reprimanded cartoonist Hemant Malviya for allegedly posting objectionable content on social media about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS, but granted him interim protection from arrest.
A bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar made it clear, however, that if Malviya continued to share offensive material, the Madhya Pradesh government would be at liberty to take action against him.
Reprimanding Malviya in Hindi, Justice Dhulia remarked, “Hadd hai. Log kisi ko bhi, kuch bhi keh dete hain (This is too much. People say anything to anyone without any restraint these days)."
The court also indicated it may issue directions on handling abusive social media content when it next hears the matter after August 15.
The order was passed after Malviya submitted an apology. The court directed him to file the apology in Hindi in the form of an affidavit and directed the parties to complete the pleading till the next date.
“Whatever we decide in this case, it’s clear that freedom of speech and expression is being misused,” the bench observed.
The case stems from derogatory cartoons targeting the Prime Minister and RSS workers, originally posted in 2021 but recently recirculated by other users. Malviya moved the Supreme Court after the Madhya Pradesh High Court denied him anticipatory bail on July 3.
Defending Malviya, advocate Vrinda Grover argued that being critical did not amount to a crime. “My cartoon was published in 2020. The FIR is not about my original cartoon but about a post by someone else who added religious text to it. Yet, the state’s wrath has fallen upon me,” she told the court. Grover added that Malviya was willing to delete the post.
Appearing for the state, Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj submitted that while everyone is entitled to an opinion, freedom of expression cannot cross into criminal conduct.
The court stressed the need for restraint in online speech. “All sorts of content are being created these days. Should people be allowed to say anything, anyhow? People write anything on social media just to grab attention,” the bench observed.
Malviya is facing charges under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 196 (acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), Section 299 (outraging religious feelings), Section 352 (intentional insult), as well as Section 67-A of the IT Act for publishing sexually explicit content online.
India