Supreme Court Asks Samay Raina & 4 Other Comedians To Post Apologies On Social Media For Making Fun Of Disabled

The Supreme Court today asked 5 comedians, including Samay Raina, to publish apologies on their YouTube channels and other social media handles for making insensitive jokes about persons with disabilities (PwDs).A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a petition filed by M/s SMA Cure Foundation (represented by Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh) flagging the jokes made by Samay Raina, Vipun Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar a.k.a. Sonali Aditya Desai and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar. The organization also sought guidelines to ensure that the PwDs are not lampooned.The bench stated that it will decide on the penalty/cost to be paid by the comedians at an appropriate stage. "The degree of repentance should be higher than the degree of offending, it's like purging contempt", said Justice Kant. The bench also allowed an impleadment application filed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.All the comedians were personally present before the Court and their personal appearance was dispended with for the subsequent postings, subject to their complying with the undertaking to publish apologies.Insofar as the guidelines being proposed to be laid down by the Court, Attorney General for India R Venkataramani agreed to place on record a draft in some time. The AG however added that there cannot be a "complete gag".As such, the bench recorded in its order, "Learned Attorney states that the proposed guidelines ensuring that rights of all are protected without impinging upon individuals rights/dignity, honor, respect, shall be placed on record. Such guidelines shall be drafted in active consultation of respondent No.4. Suggestions of other stakeholders shall also be invited. Proposed guidelines should not be a reaction to any particular incident and should be broad enough to cater to future needs".Sr Advocate Aparajita Singh, on her part, informed the bench that "better sense has prevailed" on the comedians and they have apologized for their remarks. "Your lordships have sent a strong message and it has gone home. They have apologized", she said. In response, the bench expressed that humor cannot be at the expense of anyone else's honor."Humor is well taken and is a part of life. We laugh at ourselves. But when we start laughing at others and create a breach of sensibility...on a community plane, when humor is generated, it becomes problematic. And this is what so-called influencers of today should bear in mind. They are commercializing speech. The community at large should not be utilized to hurt the sentiments of certain sections. It's not only freedom of speech, it's commercial speech," Justice Bagchi observed.In similar spirit, Justice Kant commented that there should be penal consequences under the IT Act which are proportionate to the harm caused.On the aspect of penalty by the comedians, Singh suggested that they can use their 'influence' to spread awareness about disability rights in order to make amends, as that would be the best apology."Go apologize on your podcasts, etc. Then consider what Ms. Aparajita has suggested...also tell us about cost/penalty you are willing to bear," Justice Kant told the comedians' counsel.The bench was dealing with 3 cases - two petitions filed by Youtubers Ranveer Allahabadia and Ashish Chanchlani for clubbing of FIRs lodged against them in connection with the India's Got Latent controversy, and one petition filed by M/s SMA Cure Foundation.Previously, the Court granted interim protection to Allahabadia and ordered release of his passport by investigating authorities. Chanchlani, on the other hand, secured interim protection from Gauhati High Court but got notice issued by the Supreme Court on his plea for clubbing of FIRs.On May 5, the Court issued notice on SMA Cure Foundation's petition. It further directed the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai to issue notice to Raina and the other comedians to ensure that they remain present in the Court on the next date. If they fail to appear, coercive steps will be taken, the Court warned. It also sought the presence of the Attorney General for India to assist the Court, having regard to the "sensitivity and importance" of the issue raised.On July 15, the 5 comedians entered appearance before the Court. While giving them time to file reply, the Court ordered that all, except Sonali Thakkar, shall continue to appear in-person, while Thakkar was allowed to appear online. It was added that the comedians' absence from the proceedings would be viewed seriously and no further time beyond 2 weeks would be granted to them to file their response. The Court reiterated that the issue raised in the matter is a serious one, involving right to dignity of PwDs.Insofar as the Court's view to lay down some guidelines to prevent misuse of free speech on social media, YouTube channels, etc., the Attorney General sought time on the last date to come up with a proposal. Accommodating him, Justice Kant said that suggestions...

Supreme Court Asks Samay Raina & 4 Other Comedians To Post Apologies On Social Media For Making Fun Of Disabled

Debby Jain

Tags