Supreme Court asks Samay Raina, 4 others to appear over remarks against persons with disabilities

The bench, also comprising Justice N K Singh, asked the Mumbai Police Commissioner to serve a notice to Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakar aka Sonali Aditya Desai and Nishant Jagdsish Tanwar to ensure their presence on the next date of hearing (likely on July 15). The court warned of coercive action if they fail to appear before it.

The court was hearing a plea by Cure SMA Foundation, seeking the court’s intervention to ensure adequate and explicit protections in the regulatory framework to protect people with disabilities from “disabling humour”. The Foundation contended that such humour demeans and disparages people with disability.

Raina is accused of making insensitive remarks over high-cost treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy and ridiculing a person with disability.

Appearing for the Foundation, Senior Advocate Aparajitha Singh submitted that freedom of speech and expression does not extend to mocking the vulnerable and such irresponsible remarks even tantamount to hate speech.

The court also sought the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani “having regard to the sensitivity and importance” of the issue raised by the Foundation.