Samay Raina, 4 other influencers appear  in SC over remarks 'ridiculing' disabled

Five social media influencers, including 'India's Got Latent' host Samay Raina, appeared before the Supreme Court on Tuesday over allegations of ridiculing persons with disabilities.

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A Bench led by Justice Surya Kant asked them to respond within two weeks to the petition seeking action against them for allegedly poking fun at the disabled and those suffering from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and blindness.

Besides Raina, four other influencers are Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar, alias Sonali Aditya Desai, and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar.

The Bench directed them to again appear in-person on the next hearing. It allowed influencer Sonali to appear virtually owing to some physical condition even as it said their absence on the next date of hearing will be viewed seriously.

As the Bench asked Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, to prepare social media guidelines balancing the right to freedom of speech and expression and other rights and duties, the top law officer sought time to assist the court on the issue, saying enforceability of guidelines would require a detailed consideration.

The court said the freedom of one person should not violate the rights of others, underlining the enforceability of the guidelines as the most difficult part.

"There are many free advisers in the market. Ignore them. The guidelines should be in conformity with constitutional principles balancing freedom and the rights and duties of a person. Then we will examine it. We will have open debate on such guidelines. Let all members of the bar and stakeholders, including the so-called stakeholders also come and give their viewpoints," Justice Kant said.

Article 19 deals with freedom of speech and expression and cannot overpower Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees right to life and liberty, the Bench noted.

On May 5, the top court directed the five social media influencers to appear before it or face coercive action after a plea alleged that they ridiculed persons suffering from SMA, a rare disorder, and also those suffering from other disabilities on their show.

The court termed the influencers' conduct as "damaging" and "demoralising" and said some serious remedial and punitive action was needed so that these things don't happen again. No one can be allowed to demean anybody under the garb of the right and mulled framing guidelines on social media content concerning the disabled and people with rare disorders, it said.