The Supreme Court on Friday cancelled all FIRs filed against comedian Samay Raina and four others in connection with insensitive remarks about persons with disabilities made on the show “India’s Got Latent.”
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice JV Mohana noted that Raina and the co-accused had complied with earlier court directions and proceeded to quash the criminal cases against them.
The controversy arose from comments on the show that were alleged to have ridiculed persons with disabilities and referred to the high cost of treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). The Cure SMA India Foundation had approached the court over the remarks. Raina hosted the programme, and the others named in the cases were Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar. The episode in question was recorded in November.
Earlier, the court had strongly reprimanded the comedians over the nature of the jokes. It directed them to conduct awareness programmes and raise funds for persons with disabilities. At a previous hearing, the bench had imposed a cost of Rs 3 lakh on Raina and the four others after observing that they had not fully complied with the undertakings given to the court.
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On Friday, the judges appreciated the efforts made by the group in organising shows for the benefit of persons with disabilities. The bench remarked that genuine efforts lead to positive outcomes and described the individuals as bright youngsters who, by moving in a constructive direction, would produce positive results.
With the compliance noted, the court closed the criminal proceedings against the five individuals and set aside all related cases. The matter will continue on larger issues concerning content regulation and safeguards for persons with disabilities.
The order brings an end to the multiple cases that had been registered against the comedians across different jurisdictions over the alleged insensitive content.