PM Modi, RSS Cartoon Row: Hemant Malviya Gets Anticipatory Bail From Supreme Court

New Delhi [India]: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Indore-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya booked for posting objectionable caricatures on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on social media during the Covid pandemic. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria also disposed of the matter, after it was informed by the counsel appearing for Malviya that his client has posted his apology on his Facebook and Instagram accounts over his objectionable posts. "When the statement is made before this court by the counsel that the apology has been posted on Facebook and Instagram, we do not see any justifiable ground to disbelief the said statement", the Court noted in it's order. The top-court however clarified that in the event that Malviya is not cooperating with the investigation, the State authorities are at liberty to seek cancellation of the bail granted to him. Previously, the top-court had granted interim protection to Malviya and had subsequently extended the same after directing him to file an apology in Hindi within 10 days of its order.  The Madhya Pradesh High Court on July 3 had rejected Malviya's 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 stated 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 further said that 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. Malviya also claimed that he 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.

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