- Supreme Court has agreed to urgently hear anticipatory bail plea of cartoonist Hemant Malviya
- Malviya faces charges for a 2021 caricature linking PM Modi, RSS, and Lord Shiva
- Charges include promoting communal disharmony and outraging religious feelings
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to urgently hear an anticipatory bail request by an Indore-based cartoonist who faces a police case for posting a caricature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS online with a link to Lord Shiva in the comments.
Hemant Malviya was denied anticipatory bail by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Advocate Vrinda Grover has told the top court, adding that the caricature was published in 2021 during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Urging the top court to take up the matter urgently, Ms Grover, appearing for Mr Malviya, said that the High Court has said that the Supreme Court's landmark judgements in Arnesh Kumar and Imran Pratapgarhia's case would not apply to Mr Malviya.
The police case was filed against Mr Malviya in Indore on May 21, based on a complaint by Vinay Joshi, an RSS worker and advocate, for allegedly posting objectionable content about the RSS, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Lord Shiva.
He has been charged under relevant sections of the BNS for promoting communal disharmony, outraging religious feelings, provoking breach of peace, and the IT Act. The offence is punishable by three years, and the maximum punishment can go up to five years, Mr Grover pointed out.
Dismissing his anticipatory bail petition, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had on July 3 said that the applicant had overstepped the threshold of freedom of speech and expression and doesn't appear to know his limits.
"This court is of the considered opinion that the custodial interrogation of the applicant would be necessary," Justice Subodh Abhyankar had said.
The court had further observed that the conduct of Mr Malviya in depicting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), along with the country's prime minister, coupled with his endorsement of a demeaning remark, amounted to misuse of speech and expression.
Derogatory remarks involving Lord Shiva made the post more unsettling, the court said, adding that the applicant not only endorsed it but encouraged others to experiment with the caricature. This cannot be said to be made in good taste or faith, it added.
In its five-page order, the high court also observed that his act was deliberate and malicious, intended to outrage the religious feelings of the public.
Before the High Court hearing, a sessions court in Indore had rejected Mr Malviya's anticipatory bail plea on May 24.
