‘Comedians, cartoonists…look at their conduct’: SC terms Madhya Pradesh cartoonist’s post on Modi and RSS workers ‘inflammatory’

He has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Madhya Pradesh High Court order denying him anticipatory bail in the case.

Malviya was booked following a complaint filed by one Vijay Joshi who alleged that his Facebook profile contained images, videos, and comments that were deliberately posted to incite hatred against the RSS. He alleged the posts also contained objectionable, offensive, and derogatory cartoons targeting Prime Minister Modi and RSS volunteers. There were also comments on Lord Shiva, deemed offensive to religious sentiments, the complainant alleged.

Joshi alleged that the posts were a deliberate act to “incite conflict between communities (and) defame and provoke the world’s largest organisation, the RSS. The intention behind this act appears to be to instigate RSS workers and society to riot, take the law into their own hands, engage in violence, and disrupt public order”.

Malviya was booked under sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 302 (uttering words, etc with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 353(2) (statements conducive to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 67A (publishing or transmitting material containing sexually explicit act, etc, in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act.

The post in question, a cartoon posing questions about the efficacy of Covid vaccines, was reused by a Facebook user in May 2025 along with certain comments in the context of the government’s decision to hold a caste census. Malviya reshared the post and endorsed the comments.

Advocate Vrinda Gover, who appeared for the cartoonist, submitted that the cartoon “was from 2021 about some comments that some vaccines are safe as water. There had been no law and order problems because of this cartoon since then. It got revived by someone else because things live on social media forever…the words are not mine, only the visual is mine.”

“The comedians, cartoonists etc. look at their conduct…,” Justice Dhulia said and asked if Malviya was willing to delete the post.

Agreeing, Grover said the appellant was aged over 50 years.

Justice Dhulia then remarked, “Still no maturity. We agree that it is inflammatory.”

Opposing the plea, Additional Solicitor-General K M Nataraj, who appeared for the Madhya Pradesh government, said there was an offence if the post was indeed inflammatory. He submitted that “this is causing social disharmony and breakdown of law and order. All over the country, such things are happening and they are triggering.”

The court said it would hear the matter again on Tuesday.