SC pulls up comedian Samay Raina for mocking disabled, orders fundraising

The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a stern message to comedian Samay Raina over his insensitive remarks targeting people with disabilities. The bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, directed Raina along with four other comedians — Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar, and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar — to contribute towards the medical care of disabled individuals and highlight their achievements in their performances.

The action comes after Raina, in episodes of his now-discontinued YouTube show India’s Got Latent, allegedly mocked patients battling Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), including remarks involving an infant. He was also accused of making derogatory jokes about blind and cross-eyed persons in two of his videos.

The Supreme Court suggested the Centre consider the feasibility of establishing an autonomous regulatory body to monitor online content.

"If everything is allowed to be spoken or shown without accountability, what will be the consequence?" the CJI Kant-led Bench remarked.

The Supreme Court also took strong exception to derogatory or insensitive depictions of disabled persons, urging the government to consider a stringent penal mechanism, akin to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, to deter insults and mockery aimed at persons with disabilities.

"We were told that highly sensitive issues are being mocked. Why shouldn't there be a strict law to protect disabled individuals from such humiliation?" the CJI Kant-led Bench asked.

The latest developments come against the backdrop of earlier hearings, where the Supreme Court reprimanded several stand-up comedians, including Samay Raina, Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar, and Nishant Tanwar, for making insensitive jokes about an infant suffering from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

In August this year, the Apex Court had directed Raina and four others to issue public apologies on social media after taking note of their offensive remarks about a two-month-old baby needing a Rs 16 crore life-saving injection.

While hearing the petition filed by Cure SMA Foundation of India, the Supreme Court indicated its intention to frame guidelines regulating obscene or harmful content on social media and stressed that freedom of speech under Article 19 cannot override the right to dignity enshrined in Article 21.

(with inputs from syndicated feed)