New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, came down hard on stand-up comedian and YouTuber Samay Raina and fined him and four others Rs 3 lakh each for violating its orders in the case connected to insensitive remarks made on their show about persons with disabilities.
The bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana passed the order after it was brought to their notice that Raina had not invited any disabled persons to his show, which was one of the directions given by the Court earlier.
The Court was hearing a petition filed by Cure SMA India Foundation, accusing Raina of making insensitive remarks about the high cost of treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Raina is also alleged to have ridiculed a person with such a disability, according to Bar and Bench.
The bench noted that the comedian had violated its orders and “took the court for a ride”, and said that he will have to face consequences.
“We believe Samay Raina has taken the Court for a ride, brazenly violated our orders. If you don’t know how to mend your ways or respect the sentiments of the society members then you have to face consequences,” the Supreme Court said, directing the comedian to pay Rs 10 lakh as fine.
The comedian’s lawyer, seeking a last chance, appealed for leniency, following which the Court brought down the fine from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, warning that it will slap Rs 30 lakh fine if it is not satisfied in the next hearing, as reported by NDTV.
The petition was filed seeking regulations for the broadcast of such online content in violation of the right to life and dignity of persons with disabilities.
Raina and other comedians were directed by the Court in November 2025 to organise at least two events per month to raise funds for the corpus set up for the treatment of persons with disabilities.
They were also directed to persuade specially-abled people to join their programs.
