NEW DELHI: The Indore-based cartoonist, Hemant Malviya, who has been booked over objectionable cartoon on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS, agreed to delete these posts, after the Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on him, after noting that his conduct was inflammatory and immature.
During a brief hearing on Monday, the top court's two-judge bench, headed by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Aravind, expressed disapproval and dissatisfaction of the cartoonist's conduct.
Questioning Malviya's conduct, the apex court asked if the petitioner was willing to delete his post, to which, his lawyer, Vrinda Grover agreed to it.
She also sought interim protection in the case, on the ground that the matter was about personal liberty and that the police were knocking at his door.
"I will make a statement that I am not endorsing the objectionable comments," Grover added.
She argued that the accused is 50 year-old man and should be granted interim relief, to which the bench said, "Still no maturity. We agree that it is inflammatory."
The accused, Malviya had moved the top court by filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) after the MP HC had on July 3 denied him anticipatory bail in the case.
Before the HC passed the order, a sessions court in Indore had rejected his anticipatory bail plea on May 24.
Malviya has been accused of uploading "objectionable" cartoons of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS workers on social media with a link to Lord Shiva in the comments in 2021 during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The MP police swung into action and filed a case against Malviya in Indore on May 21, after receiving a complaint filed by Vinay Joshi, an RSS worker and advocate, for allegedly posting objectionable content about the RSS, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Lord Shiva.
Earlier, the MP HC, while rejecting Malviya's anticipatory bail plea, had observed that it was gross misuse of freedom of speech.
"The applicant (Malviya) has 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 of the MP HC, had said.
The MP police charged Malviya under relevant sections of the BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) and others for promoting communal disharmony, outraging religious feelings, provoking breach of peace, and the IT Act.
The HC had further observed that the conduct of Malviya in depicting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), along with the country's prime minister, coupled with his endorsement of a derogatory remark, amounted to misuse of speech and expression.
The HC, in its 5-page order, went on to observe 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," the HC stated.
It also observed that his act was deliberate and malicious, intended to outrage the religious feelings of the public.