‘It’s not freedom of speech’: SC pulls up Samay Raina for mocking disabled in show; seeks apology

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed five social media influencers, including India’s Got Latent host Samay Raina, to issue a public apology for mocking persons with disabilities. The apex court observed that freedom of speech and expression can't be applicable to commercial speech hurting sentiments of other community.

The court asked the Centre to frame guidelines for social media to curb speeches offending or ridiculing disabled, women, children and senior citizens.


The top court also said that it will impose penalties on the social media influencers, including Raina for targeting persons with disabilities.

Guidelines for social media regulations shouldn't be knee jerk reaction but based on broad parameters having views of all stakeholders, the SC observed, as reported by PTI.

Also read - Row over joke on disability: SC pulls up Samay Raina, 4 others; observes 'many free advisors in market'


According to LiveLaw, counsel for the respondents undertook that each of them would display an apology on their YouTube channels and podcasts and also file affidavits confirming compliance. The court said their personal appearance was dispensed with for now, provided they adhered to this undertaking.

Also read - Samay Raina, other influencers must appear personally in court: Supreme Court

"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," the bench said, as quoted by LiveLaw.

The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi also said the question of penalty or costs would be decided later.

During the hearing, Justice Kant remarked, “There should be a balance of rights and duties”.

What happened during earlier hearings

During the hearing on July 15, the court asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to draft social media guidelines balancing free speech and others' rights. Emphasising the difficulty of enforcing such guidelines, the bench remarked, “Article 19... can’t overpower Article 21,” adding, “Suppose a race takes place between Article 19 and 21, Article 21 has to trump Article 19.”

Justice Kant had stressed the need to protect dignity: “What we are doing is for posterity. You have to ensure that not a single word is misused by anyone... A framework must be there that the dignity of anyone is not violated.”

The petition was filed by NGO Cure SMA Foundation of India. The court previously warned that mocking the disabled cannot be allowed under the guise of free speech and termed the influencers’ actions “damaging” and “demoralising.”

Raina, along with podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia, was booked by Maharashtra and Assam police. The court earlier granted Allahbadia interim protection from arrest, calling his remarks “vulgar” and evidence of a “dirty mind which put society to shame.”


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