SC Pulls Up Samay Raina & Ranveer for Mocking Others

The Supreme Court has made a strict remark that freedom cannot be given to make fun of anyone for earning money nor will it get protection under the ambit of freedom of expression. The court clarified that when someone commercializes his speech or presentation, he cannot hurt the sentiments of any community. In this sequence, the apex court strongly reprimanded comedian Samay Raina and other comedians for jokes making fun of persons with disabilities.

A bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing the petition of Cure SMA Foundation of India. This organization helps patients suffering from spinal muscular atrophy and their families. In the petition, the attention of the court was drawn to the fact that many comedians tell jokes making fun of persons with disabilities. The artists criticized by the court include Samay Raina, Vipun Goyal, Balraj Paramjit Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar.

The petition alleged that these comedians made fun of the disabled and rare diseases in their shows, which hurt the sentiments of the victims. The Supreme Court took a tough stand on this and said that the dignity of every person should be protected. The court directed the artists to apologize unconditionally for telling insensitive jokes on the disabled and persons suffering from rare diseases.

During the hearing, Attorney General R. Venkataramani told the court that all the artists have apologized. On this, Justice Suryakant remarked, "Jokes are a part of life and we can accept jokes made on ourselves, but when you start making fun of others, it is a violation of sensitivity." The apex court also asked how much fine should be imposed on these artists for this "inhuman crime". Also, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has been directed to prepare clear guidelines to stop such incidents. Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, appearing for the foundation, termed the decision as a "victory of good sense" and said that it is a historic step to protect the dignity of the victims.

Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, appearing for the foundation, told the court that "this is a victory of good sense" as all the comedians have apologized. The Supreme Court directed that these artists should publicly broadcast the apology on their YouTube channel. Who filed the petition?

A bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a petition filed by 'Cure SMA Foundation of India'. This organization helps patients of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and their families. The petition demanded a ban on making fun of the disabled and making objectionable jokes on them.