Bail Plea On Urgent Basis
New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Friday, agreed to urgently hear an anticipatory bail plea by an Indore-based cartoonist who faces arrest for sketching a caricature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS on Facebook with a link to Lord Shiva in the caption.
The Supreme Court has listed the matter for hearing on Monday.
After Hemant Malviya was denied anticipatory bail by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, his counsel senior advocate Vrinda Grover moved the Supreme Court and said that the caricature was published in 2021 during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Urging the top court to take up the matter urgently, she submitted how the High Court had said that the Supreme Court’s landmark judgements in the Arnesh Kumar and Imran Pratapgarhia’s case would not apply to Malviya.
The police case was registered against Malviya in Indore only on May 21 this year, based on a complaint by Vinay Joshi, an RSS worker and advocate, for allegedly posting objectionable content about the RSS, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Lord Shiva.
The cartoonist was charged under relevant sections of the BNS for promoting communal disharmony, outraging religious feelings, provoking breach of peace, and the IT Act. The offence is punishable by three years, and the maximum punishment can go up to five years, Grover pointed out.
Dismissing his anticipatory bail petition, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had on July 3 said that the applicant had overstepped the threshold of freedom of speech and expression and doesn’t appear to know his limits.
“This court is of the considered opinion that the custodial interrogation of the applicant would be necessary,” Justice Subodh Abhyankar had said.
The court had further observed that the conduct of Malviya, in depicting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), along with the country’s Prime Minister, coupled with his endorsement of a demeaning remark, amounted to misuse of the right to free speech and expression.
Derogatory remarks involving Lord Shiva made the post more unsettling, the court said, adding that the applicant not only endorsed it but encouraged others to experiment with the caricature. This cannot be said to be made in good taste or faith, it added.
