The Supreme Court ordered Samay Raina and four other comedians to conduct at least two monthly events to raise funds for disabled persons and spotlight success stories, following complaints of insensitive jokes.
The court framed the directive as a matter of social responsibility rather than punishment, urging the comedians to use their platforms for awareness and dignified representation of persons with disabilities.
The Bench declined to ease the frequency requirement, underlining that digital platforms offer sufficient means to comply, and emphasised prompt and constructive action before the next hearing.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Samay Raina together with other comedians — Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar (also known as Sonali Aditya Desai), and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar — to organise a minimum of two events every month aimed at raising funds for a corpus to support the treatment of persons with disabilities.
The order came in a petition filed by Cure SMA India Foundation, which alleged that remarks made by some of these comedians in their online content violated the right to dignity of disabled persons.
The Bench — comprising CJI Surya Kant (CJI) and Joymalya Bagchi — accepted the comedians’ willingness to host events and encouraged them to invite persons with disabilities, especially those with inspiring success stories, onto their platforms. The court emphasised that the direction does not amount to a punishment but reflects a social responsibility. It urged them to use their reach to generate funds and awareness for timely treatment of specially-abled individuals, including those suffering from rare conditions such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).
While the comedians’ counsel sought relaxation of the twice-a-month requirement — citing irregular frequency of shows and reliance on sponsors — the court declined to dilute its directive, indicating that digital platforms such as YouTube offer ample scope to meet the mandate.
The bench also underscored that the treatment cost for rare disorders is often prohibitively high, and insensitive humour against disabled persons undermines their dignity and can hamper efforts to raise support. Rather than a penal penalty, the court asked the comedians to redirect their influence towards empathy, support, and dignity for the disabled community.
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