SC confirms protection from arrest for cartoonist over Modi caricature

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed protection from arrest for Indore-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya, who was booked for allegedly publishing a caricature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) deemed “undignified”.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria made absolute its July 15 order that had granted Malviya interim protection from coercive action. The court noted that Malviya had complied with its earlier directive to issue public apologies on his social media platforms.

While disposing of his petition for anticipatory bail, the bench allowed Madhya Pradesh police to seek cancellation of relief if Malviya failed to cooperate with the investigation. On August 23, Malviya had posted an apology on Facebook as directed by the court.

The case dates back to January 6, 2021, when Malviya published a cartoon depicting Modi as a doctor injecting a man dressed in attire resembling the RSS uniform. The caption referred to Serum Institute of India chief Adar Poonawalla’s remarks on the limited efficacy of some Covid-19 vaccines.

Later, a Facebook user reposted the cartoon with an altered caption linking it to the caste census, the Pahalgam terror attack and the Waqf Act. Malviya reshared the edited version on May 1, writing that his cartoons were open for public use with customized captions.

Following this, an RSS member lodged a complaint alleging defamation of the organization and hurting of religious sentiments. Malviya was booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, including charges of promoting enmity, outraging religious feelings, intentional insult and electronically publishing explicit content.

Malviya has maintained that his work was satirical and that he was being falsely implicated, arguing that the controversial comments accompanying the cartoon were not his own.