The Supreme Court on Monday took a serious view of allegations leveled against comedian and host of “India’s Got Latent,” Samay Raina, stating it would examine a plea accusing him of ridiculing individuals with disabilities, including those with visual impairments and rare conditions like Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).
Supreme Court’s statement
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, while hearing a matter related to influencer Ranveer Allahbadia, told senior advocate Aprajita Singh, representing the NGO Cure SMA Foundation of India, to file a proper writ petition instead of an interim intervention application. “This is a serious issue. You file a writ petition. We will see what can be done. In writ jurisdiction we have larger scope,” the bench observed.
The court also noted the statements indicating the completion of the probe against Allahbadia and scheduled a hearing for April 28 on his plea seeking the return of his passport. Allahbadia’s passport was deposited as a condition for interim protection from arrest granted by the apex court on February 18 in connection with FIRs filed over his allegedly distasteful remarks during Raina’s show.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Assam and Maharashtra police, informed the court that while the investigation was complete in the Mumbai FIR with a chargesheet yet to be filed, the statement of one co-accused was pending recording in the Guwahati FIR. The bench recorded Mehta’s statement, noting the investigation concerning Allahbadia was concluded. Counsel for Assam Police stated that all accused, except Apoorva Makhija, including Allahbadia, had appeared and recorded their statements, with Makhija’s next summons for statement recording scheduled for Tuesday.
Senior advocate Abhinav Chandrachud, appearing for Allahbadia, argued that his client’s involvement was limited to appearing on Raina’s show and he had no other connection with the co-accused. He also highlighted Allahbadia’s cooperation with the investigation by appearing before the concerned police officials.
SMA Foundation’s plea
Meanwhile, the Cure SMA Foundation, in its plea, highlighted the inadequacies in the existing legal framework concerning online content and urged the court to formulate guidelines to regulate derogatory and ableist content targeting persons with disabilities, their conditions, and treatment options. The NGO emphasised that while it wasn’t seeking a blanket ban on all disability-related content, it was specifically concerned with content that is “derogatory, denigrating, ableist and belittling.”
The plea specifically pointed out Raina’s alleged insensitive commentaries on individuals with disabilities, their costly medications, and treatment choices on his comedy show. The NGO argued that such acts “deprecated the public mindset, often resulting in perpetuating lack of receptivity towards the seriousness of the illness, or the ensuing challenges in the resource management.”
(With PTI Inputs)