The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted cartoonist Hemant Malviya interim protection from arrest in a case over his allegedly objectionable cartoon of PM Narendra Modi and the RSS, LiveLaw reported. The apex court, however, came down heavily on Malviya, calling the post “inflammatory”. 

The cartoonist had approached the top court after the Madhya Pradesh High Court refused to grant him anticipatory bail on July 3.

A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar, however, reportedly said that if Malviya continued to share offensive posts, the Madhya Pradesh government was free to take action against him. The cartoonist was reportedly told to apologise and take down the objectionable post that led to the complaint against him.

Malviya was booked last month under various sections of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita and section 67(a) of the Information Technology Act over a complaint that alleged his cartoon tarnished the image of the RSS, incited violence, and hurt Hindu religious sentiments.

The complainant reportedly identified himself as a member of the RSS and the Hindu community.

After Malviya’s anticipatory bail application was dismissed by the additional sessions judge in Indore on May 24, he had approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which dismissed the plea on July 3. The high court said that the cartoonist had “overstepped the threshold of freedom of speech and expression”.

The court took note of the cartoon, which was made in 2021 and depicted a human figure representing the RSS in uniform, bending over with its shorts pulled down, being administered an injection by a caricature of Prime Minister Modi. The PM figure was shown with a stethoscope and a syringe. The court found the content objectionable and said that it was worsened by “derogatory lines involving Lord Shiva”, according to LiveLaw.

The cartoon was shared last month by a social media account with commentary suggesting that the caste census was being used to divert attention from other issues like Waqf and Pahalgam. Malviya allegedly shared that post.

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