SC rebukes cartoonist booked over caricature of PM, RSS

New Delhi [India], July 14 : The Supreme Court on Monday rebuked Indore-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya for his objectionable caricatures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) while terming his conduct "inflammatory" and "immature."
A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar expressed disapproval of the cartoonist's conduct saying, "The comedians, cartoonists etc. look at their conduct..."
Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Malviya, said the cartoonist will delete the post and make a statement that he was not endorsing the objectionable comments.
She admitted that the cartoonist's comments and the caricature might be "unpalatable or in poor taste", but it was still not an offence.
The advocate prayed for interim protection to Malviya, saying that the police were knocking at his door.
When the bench asked about the age of cartoonist, Grover said he was aged over 50 years. To this Justice Dhulia said, "Still no maturity. We agree that it is inflammatory."
The bench then posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday. The apex court was hearing an anticipatory bail of Malviya for his objectionable caricatures of PM and RSS.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on July 3 had rejected his anticipatory bail plea.
The High Court had said that Malviya had misused the freedom of speech and ought to have used his discretion while drawing the caricature in question.
His plea has clarified that he had published the original cartoon during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic when social media was rife with misinformation and fear related to the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.
The petitioner said his cartoon is a satirical caricature work which offers social commentary on the comments made by a public figure regarding some vaccines being effective and "safe like water", even though their efficacy remains untested through rigorous clinical trials.
He further claimed that the caricature, was the artist's imagination of a common man being vaccinated by a public representative and has been in public circulation on social media for over four years.
It said that a social media user on May 1, 2025 had posted the cartoon with his comment stating "through implication that caste census is merely a tool to distract the public from issues like Waqf and Pahalgam".
The petitioner claimed that Malviya shared that post to demonstrate that his cartoons are freely available for public use and expression but he did not endorse the views expressed in the added commentary but acknowledged the use of his cartoon.