Supreme Court to Hear Bail Plea of Cartoonist Hemant Malviya

New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear the anticipatory bail plea of Hemant Malviya, an Indore-based cartoonist. He faces accusations of uploading "objectionable" cartoons of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and workers from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on social media.

A bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi is set to take up the case on July 14, following a plea from Malviya's lawyer, Vrinda Grover, for an urgent hearing. This comes after the Madhya Pradesh High Court declined to grant him relief, observing that the content was a misuse of freedom of speech.

Grover highlighted that the cartoons were published during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 and stressed that prominent cases concerning life and liberty, like Arnesh Kumar and Imran Pratapgarhi, were not considered by the high court. The maximum punishment under the charges in Malviya's case is three years, she noted.

Justice Dhulia instructed that the case will be heard on July 14 by the appropriate bench.

On July 3, the Madhya Pradesh High Court refused anticipatory bail to Malviya after an FIR was lodged against him at Lasudiya police station in Indore in May. This followed a complaint by local lawyer and RSS worker Vinay Joshi, alleging that Malviya's posts hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and disrupted communal harmony.

The FIR cited several allegedly objectionable posts, including cartoons and comments about Modi, RSS members, Lord Shiva, and others.

According to the high court, Malviya's actions amounted to a misuse of freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The court noted that the combination of references to the RSS, a Hindu organization, the Prime Minister, and derogatory remarks relating to Lord Shiva amounted to a deliberate attempt to offend religious sentiments.

Owing to these considerations, the high court determined that Malviya's custodial interrogation was warranted.

Malviya had argued before the high court that he only created and posted a cartoon, bearing no responsibility for third-party comments on the post. Nonetheless, he is accused of intentionally posting indecent material aimed at offending Hindu religious sentiments and damaging the RSS's image.

The legal charges cited under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) include sections 196, 299, and 352, along with section 67-A of the Information Technology Act, concerning the publication of sexually explicit material online.

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