New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday, August 14, cancelled all FIRs filed against standup comedian Samay Raina and four others over allegedly insensitive remarks against persons with disabilities.
Raina, along with Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai and Sonali Thakkar, and fellow comedians Vipun Goyal and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar, were booked for their remarks on his show India’s Got Latent.
The apex court had pulled up Raina over the quality of jokes on the show, directing him to organise awareness programmes and raise funds for persons with disabilities.
Court lauds efforts of ‘bright youngsters’
Noting efforts made by Raina and the others, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice JV Mohana quashed all cases against them.
During the last hearing, the court had imposed a cost of Rs 3 lakh on the five, noting that he had taken the court for a ride as he had not complied with the undertakings given earlier.
On Friday, however, the Bench said, “Once there are genuine efforts, positive results are bound to be there. They are very bright youngsters. If they have started working in a positive direction, there will be positive output,” the Bench said.
The petition filed by Cure SMA India Foundation said that on his show, Raina had made insensitive remarks over the high cost of treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy, while mocking a person with the disability.
The plea had gone on to pinpoint jokes made during a particular episode that featured Goyal, Ghai, Thakkar, and Tanwar.
