‘Cannot lampoon’: Supreme Court issues rules on portraying disabled persons in films

A bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala said that “… if the overall message of the work infringes the rights of persons with disabilities, it is not protected speech, obviating the need for any balancing… if stereotypical/disparaging portrayal is justified by the overall message of the film, the filmmaker’s right to retain such portrayal will have to be balanced against the fundamental and statutory rights of those portrayed.”

The apex court said that words cultivate institutional discrimination and “terms such as “cripple” and “spastic” have come to acquire devalued meanings in societal perceptions about persons with disabilities.

Laying down the framework, the SC said, “Language that disparages persons with disabilities, marginalises them further and supplements the disabling barriers in their social participation, without the redeeming quality of the overall message of such portrayal must be approached with caution. Such representation is problematic not because it offends subjective feelings but because it impairs the objective societal treatment of the affected groups by society. We believe that representation of persons with disabilities must regard the objective social context of their representation and not marginalise persons with disability”.

It said that “language that individualises the impairment and overlooks the disabling social barriers (e.g. terms such as “afflicted”, “suffering”, and “victim”) should be avoided or adequately flagged as contrary to the social model”.

“Creators must check for accurate representation of a medical condition as much as possible. Misleading portrayal of what a condition such as night blindness entails may perpetuate misinformation about the condition, and entrench stereotypes about persons with such impairments, aggravating the disability,” the bench said.

“Visual media should strive to depict the diverse realities of persons with disabilities, showcasing not only their challenges but also their successes, talents, and contributions to society,” it said.

The SC said persons with disabilities “should neither be lampooned based on myths (such as, ‘blind people bump into objects in their path’) nor presented as ‘super cripples’ on the other extreme”. It said “training and sensitization programmes should be implemented for those involved in creating visual media content”.