Amid the ‘India’s Got Latent’ row, comedian Samay Raina and 4 influencers summoned by the Supreme Court for a petition alleging comments that made fun of disabled people |

Samay Raina finds himself in a new controversy since his ‘India’s Got Latent’ row, as 5 influencers were recently summoned by the Supreme Court of India to appear for a petition that has been filed against them. The petition was filed against them by an NGO, which alleged that the five influencers, which included Samay Raina and popular comedian Vipul Goyal, had mocked individuals with disabilities.

Samay Raina, Vipul Goyal and the like served with summons

As per a report in TOI, the influencers, namely Samay Raina, Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar, and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar, were issued a notice by the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, under the orders of the legal bench Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh. The influencers were asked to be present at the next court hearing; they were also warned that “if they fail to appear, coercive steps will be taken,” as per reports from Live Law. The summons comes only 2 months after Raina was in legal trouble because of his episode on ‘India’s Got Latent’ row.

Public interest litigation filed by an NGO

The PIL was filed by an NGO organisation called the ‘Cure SMA Foundation of India.’ The NGO called for more control over social media content and how it is shared. This suggestion was specifically called for with regard to content shared online about people with disabilities as well as people who have rare conditions.

Justices condemn the issue, calling it “damaging” and “demoralising”

The justices shared that they condemn the issue and that efforts to bring people into the mainstream front can go down the drain due to such actions. The bench also gave a statement and advised advocate Aprajita Singh, who is representing the NGO, regarding the matter that “This is very, very damaging and demoralising. There are statutes which try to bring these people into the mainstream, and with one incident, the entire effort goes. You should think of some remedial and punitive action within the law.”
Samay Raina was also criticised by the court in the matter and shared that “numerous instances on (on) social media… in which persons with disabilities (and their issues) are objects of derision, pity, or public entertainment.”

Freedom of speech, a fundamental right but with limitations

The top court shared statements in the matter and noted that while freedom of speech and expression is the right of every Indian citizen, it can be allowed without some reasonable restrictions and limitations. They shared that “free speech cannot carry with it the liberty to speak loosely on such serious issues and dismiss such statements as ‘satire’.” The bench also issued that due to this, there should be guidelines introduced to curate and overlook social media and that no one should be able to make such derogatory statements due to individual differences.