New Delhi: The Supreme Court in Friday declared that it was giving a big relief to comedian and YouTuber Samay Raina, the FIRs filed against him and four others for derogatory remarks about the show India’s Got Latent were quashed. The cases were connected to sensitive comments that were made towards people with disabilities.
A bench comprising former President of the Supreme Court Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana quashed the criminal proceedings against Raina and others. The court noted what they did post the controversy and complying with the earlier directions.
Comedian Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar, popularly known as ‘Sonali Aditya Desai’ and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar are the others who were relieved of this case. The case was connected to comments on the TV show India Got Latent, which were derogatory towards people with disabilities.
Earlier, the Supreme Court expressed a strong sentiment with regard to the comments and asked the petitioners/respondents, Raina and others, to do something to promote awareness on the issues faced by PWDs. The court had also instructed them to participate in some of its efforts in helping the community.
The accused subsequently formed awareness programmes and held a chess tournament for persons with disabilities in Pune, reports said. They also collected around ₹12.5 crore through shows and other activities which would be spent on welfare actions. In deciding to drop the criminal proceedings, the court considered these efforts.
The incident had sparked a lot of discussion about the role of comedians and Internet creators in addressing sensitive issues. The Supreme Court has also hinted that the bigger question about regulating harmful content online will be discussed.
Samay Raina, a criminal case involving him and a court order issued Friday, finally resumes normal operations and provides some legal relief from months of controversies.
