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‘Objectionable’ cartoons on PM, RSS: SC grants protection to cartoonist

A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar said if he shared any more offensive posts on social media, the state was free to take action against him under law.

Hemant Malviya challenged in the apex court a Madhya Pradesh High Court order passed on July 3 refusing to grant him anticipatory bail. (File Photo)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Madhya Pradesh-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya, who was booked for sharing objectionable content targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS, after he agreed to delete them and tendered an apology.

A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Arvind Kumar, however, said that one of his posts was “very, very offensive”.

Deprecating such conduct, Justice Dhulia said, “What is happening today…all kinds of statements are being made. The language they use. There are some among the lawyer community also doing this.”

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Malviya had approached the SC, challenging the Madhya Pradesh High Court order denying him anticipatory bail in the case.

Malviya was booked following a complaint filed by one Vijay Joshi who alleged that his Facebook profile contained images, videos, and comments that were deliberately posted to incite hatred against the RSS.

Joshi alleged the posts also contained objectionable, offensive, and derogatory cartoons targeting PM Modi and RSS volunteers.

There were also comments deemed offensive to religious sentiments, the complainant alleged.

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Joshi alleged that the posts were a deliberate act to “incite conflict between communities (and) defame and provoke the world’s largest organisation,

the RSS.”

“The intention behind this act appears to be to instigate RSS workers and society to riot, take the law into their own hands, engage in violence, and disrupt public order,” Joshi alleged.

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