Supreme Court grants anticipatory bail to cartoonist Hemant Malviya after apology

The Supreme Court today granted anticipatory bail to cartoonist Hemant Malviya, accused of drawing a caricature showing the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak (RSS) and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in an undignified manner.

Malviya, represented through Advocate Vrinda Grover tendered his apology for the posts and stated that he would delete the same.

Yesterday, State of Madhya Pradesh vehemently opposed the grant of relief to the cartoonist as Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing for the State of Madhya Pradesh told the top court that such acts were being done repeatedly.

"This is how social harmony is being disrupted..if something happens it will come on our head..they want to write an apology now..", the ASG further said on a submission from Malviya that he would apologise for his post.

Notably, the supreme court also took strong exception to the caricature and said this was a clear case of abuse of freedom of speech and expression. "This is a case where FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION has been abused...particularly these cartoonists and stand up comedians..", Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court had recently denied anticipatory bail to Malviya noting that the cartoonist overstepped the threshold of freedom of speech and expression and did not appear to know his limits.

Malviya has been booked for offences punishable under Section 196, 299, 302, 352, 353(3) of Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023 and Section 67-A of the I.T. Act, 2000. Justice Subodh Abhyankar of the high court had noted in his order that the applicant cartoonist's Facebook page, showed RSS in a human form with its Khaki shorts with a black belt and white shirt, which is the uniform of RSS.

"This man is bending over with his shorts pulled down and exposing his bottom to the caricature of the Prime Minister, who is shown with a stethoscope around his neck and who is also holding an injection in his hand, which he is administering on the bottom of the person bending over i.e. RSS.", high court further noted.

"...the post becomes more unsettling when the aforesaid derogatory lines involving Lord Shiva are also added to it, and which have also been favourably endorsed by the applicant himself who is also encouraging other people to experiment with the said caricature, which certainly cannot be said to be made in good taste or faith. It is apparent that the applicant's aforesaid act is deliberate and malicious intended to outrage religious feelings of the complainant and the public at large by insulting its religion, which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony in the society...", the order further noted.

Court also refused the applicants' plea to draw a comparison of his work with the work that of RK Laxman the noted cartoonist of his era, and the other cartoonists also, as no such caricature drawn by RK Laxman or any other noted cartoonist had been brought before court which may be said to be similar or close enough to the caricature drawn by applicant.

Thus, while holding that the custodial interrogation of the applicant would be necessary, the high court said, "...the applicant ought to have used his discretion while drawing the aforesaid caricature, and he has clearly overstepped the threshold of freedom of speech and expression, and does not appear to know his limits.".

Case Title: Hemant Malviya vs. State of MP