A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh directed the Mumbai Police Commissioner to ensure their presence before the court on the next date of hearing, warning that failure to appear would invite coercive steps.
Supreme Court of India (File Photo: SNS)
The Supreme Court, on Monday, summoned comedians Samay Raina, Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakar (aka Sonali Aditya Desai), and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar, directing them to appear before it personally for allegedly making insensitive remarks against persons with disabilities.
A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh directed the Mumbai Police Commissioner to ensure their presence before the court on the next date of hearing, warning that failure to appear would invite coercive steps.
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Taking a stern view of the insensitive comments by the comedians about the persons with disabilities, Justice Surya Kant said, “Hate speech, any speech which is meant to demean another… this kind of freedom, if there, we will curtail it. We know how to….”
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The observation from Justice Kant came in the course of the hearing of a petition by the NGO Cure SMA Foundation seeking the prohibition of derogatory content on digital media against persons with disabilities and framing of guidelines to safeguard their dignity.
Justice Kant asked senior advocate Aparajita Singh, appearing for the NGO, on the remedial and curative measures that could be undertaken against such irresponsible behaviour.
Emphasizing the damaging impact of such content, senior advocate Aparajita Singh said, “These are influencers. What they say has weight. It is affecting the attitude of an entire generation.”
Justice Kant remarked, “Very demoralising, damaging effects. You try to uplift through social, legislative means, but with one casual action, everything is derailed.”
Given the sensitivity and importance of the matter, the court requested the Attorney General for India R Venkataramani to assist it in the hearing of the matter.
The top court also issued notices to the Union of India through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Electronics and Information Technology, Social Justice and Empowerment, the News Broadcasters and Digital Association, and the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation.
The petitioner NGO pointed to the online content that were broadcasted and were derogatory, offensive, and ableist, violating the rights of persons with disabilities and lacking adequate statutory regulation.
The NGO has sought a positive obligation on the government and private actors to adopt standards of representation for persons with disabilities in the online domain.
Specifically, the NGO accused Raina of making insensitive remarks about persons with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, high-cost treatment options, and alleged instances of ridicule.
The petition has stated that these comedians enjoy a large following and their offensive content has a widespread impact, propelling negative stereotypes, diminishing societal participation of persons with disabilities, and infringing Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
It has further stated that such content also falls within the reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2) due to its adverse societal impact.
The court was also informed that FIRs have been registered against some of these comedians in Mumbai and Guwahati, including a case related to alleged vulgar discussions during an event titled “India’s Got Latent”.
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