A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria asked Malviya to publish an apology on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms within 10 days and said interim protection would continue till the next hearing.
Supreme Court of India (File Photo: IANS)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended protection from arrest to Indore-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya in a case concerning his caricatures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria asked Malviya to publish an apology on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms within 10 days and said interim protection would continue till the next hearing.
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Appearing for Madhya Pradesh, Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj said the post itself should not be deleted as the investigation was still underway. He added that Malviya could be allowed to apologise online with an undertaking not to repeat the act while cooperating with the probe.
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Earlier, the top court had directed Malviya to submit an affidavit in Hindi, expressing regret for the caricatures. His plea, seeking anticipatory bail, comes after the Madhya Pradesh High Court on July 3 rejected his application, observing that he had “misused the freedom of speech” and failed to exercise discretion while publishing the caricature.
Malviya has claimed that the work was a satirical piece created during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, reflecting debates around vaccine safety. He said the cartoon had been in circulation on social media for over four years and that he did not endorse political interpretations later attached to it by third parties.
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