Hemant Malviya Shall Publish Social Media Apology For Undignified PM Modi Cartoon: Supreme Court

The Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N.V. Anjaria was hearing Malviya’s plea. In July, the Court had granted him anticipatory bail after he tendered an apology through his counsel, Advocate Vrinda Grover, and assured the Bench that he would delete the posts in question.

When the matter was taken up today, Grover informed the Court that an apology in both Hindi and English translations had been filed and served on the opposite side. She further stated that Malviya would delete the caricature from his accounts and publish his apology on social media.

“I am making a statement that it would be deleted from all social media accounts, although the case pertains to the Facebook post. I will publish this apology on my social media account. I have never been summoned to join the investigation even once, because there is no recovery, there is nothing,” Grover submitted on behalf of Malviya.

The Bench, however, clarified that the deletion of the post cannot be permitted while the investigation is ongoing. “The fact that investigation is ongoing, the deletion of the relevant piece of evidence is not permitted at this stage,” the order stated.

Appearing for the State of Madhya Pradesh, ASG K.M. Natraj said that Malviya may publish the apology on all social media platforms and must continue cooperating with the investigation.

Accordingly, the Court directed Malviya to upload the apology on his Facebook, Instagram, and any other social media accounts within one week, and restrained him from reposting the caricature. The protection granted earlier was ordered to continue until the next date of hearing.

Earlier, on July 14, the State of Madhya Pradesh vehemently opposed the grant of relief to the cartoonist as the ASG had told the Apex 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 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.

The High Court had 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 v. State of Madhya Pradesh

Hearing Date: August 19, 2025

Bench: Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N.V. Anjaria