Don’t mock the disabled for laughs, publish apology, SC tells comedians
The court said commercial speech cannot be used to hurt sentiments of a community, asking Samay Raina and others to publish a public apology
When speech is being commercialised, the community at large should not be used to hurt the sentiments of certain sections, the Supreme Court said on Monday (August 25) , chiding Samay Raina and several other comedians for jokes on persons with disabilities (PWDs). The top court made the remarks during the hearing of a petition by Cure SMA Foundation of India, which provides support to patients and families affected by spinal muscular atrophy.
Publish Apology: SC to comedians
During the hearing, the bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi also asked the five comedians to publish an apology on their YouTube and other social media pages for making insensitive jokes about PWDs.
"Humour is well taken and is a part of life. We laugh at ourselves. But when we start laughing at others and create a breach of sensibility...on a community plane, when humour is generated, it becomes problematic. And this is what so-called influencers of today should bear in mind,” said Justice Bagchi.
“They are commercialising speech. The community at large should not be utilised to hurt the sentiments of certain sections. It's not only freedom of speech, it's commercial speech," he added as quoted by Live Law.
Also Read: ‘Implead…then we’ll see’: SC ‘disturbed’ by Samay Raina’s jokes
‘All comedians apologised’
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh, appearing on behalf of SMA Cure Foundation, flagged the jokes made by Samay Raina, Vipun Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar a.k.a. Sonali Aditya Desai and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar. The organisation also sought guidelines to ensure that PWDs do not get lampooned in future.
Singh informed the court that "better sense has prevailed" and all the concerned comedians have apologised. Responding to Justice Kant’s observation, there should be penal consequences under the IT Act which are proportionate to the damage done, Singh suggested that the comedians should be asked to spread awareness about disability rights on their platforms, along with apologising for their actions.
"Go apologise on your podcasts, etc. Then consider what Ms. Aparajita has suggested. Then tell us about cost/penalty you are willing to bear," said Justice Kant.
Also Read: SC summons Samay Raina, influencers to court for 'ridiculing' disabled people
Centre seeks time on guidelines
According to Live Law, responding to the court’s view to lay down some guidelines to prevent misuse of free speech on social media platforms, including YouTube channels, Attorney General for India, R Venkataramani, sought time on the last date to come up with a proposal. Granting time, Justice Kant said that suggestions are welcome from all stakeholders and members of the Bar.