SC directs apology from Samay Raina, others for jokes on disabled

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday, August 25, directed comedian Samay Raina, creator of “India’s Got Latent”, and four others to issue public apologies on social media for making insensitive jokes about an infant suffering from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi indicated that on the next hearing, it would decide the penalty to be imposed on comedians Raina, Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar alias Sonali Aditya Desai, and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar.

The development came after the comedians filed their written apologies before the top court and remained personally present during the hearing.

The Justice Surya Kant-led Bench was hearing an application by the Cure SMA Foundation of India, which objected to the stand-up comedians making fun of the dependence of poor patients on fundraising to access medicines for the rare genetic disease.

The main petition filed by the Cure SMA Foundation of India concerns the exorbitant prices of drugs used for treating the condition.

The life-saving drugs for SMA include Zolgensma, a one-time gene therapy priced at around Rs 16 crore.

In its application, the foundation urged “the highest degree of sensitivity and compassion” in discussions about people suffering from SMA.

During his show, “India’s Got Latent”, Raina pointed out a charity case of a two-month-old baby. He said “something crazy” had happened: “A two-month-old baby requires a Rs 16 crore injection.”

Addressing a woman in the audience, he added: “Ma’am, you tell me… if you were that mother and one day Rs 16 crore appeared in your bank account… while you had a two-month-old… wouldn’t you at least look at your husband once and say… ‘Hmmm… inflation is rising’.”

Earlier, the Supreme Court observed that insensitive jokes targeting disabled people violate their right to dignity, as it mulled framing guidelines on freedom of speech and expression for stand-up comedians to regulate obscene content on social media.

Recently, Raina submitted a written apology to the National Commission for Women (NCW), expressing regret over his conduct during his controversial show.

Public outrage erupted after comments by popular YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia on parents and sex during Raina’s show went viral on social media, triggering widespread backlash. Several police complaints were filed against Allahbadia and other people associated with the show in both Mumbai and Guwahati.

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