Madhya Pradesh High Court denies anticipatory bail to Indore cartoonist over ‘derogatory’ caricatures of Modi, RSS

Denying anticipatory bail to Indore-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya over “objectionable” caricatures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Madhya Pradesh High Court termed them the “sheer misuse of freedom of speech”.

Mr. Malviya’s petition of July 3, in which he had sought relief from arrest in a first information report (FIR) filed against him on a complaint from a local RSS worker and lawyer Vinay Joshi, was dismissed by the Bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar in Indore.

In the FIR registered at Indore’s Lasudiya police station in May, Mr. Malviya has been accused of showing Mr. Modi and the RSS in an “undignified manner”, maligning the image of the outfit, disturbing communal harmony, and hurting the religious sentiments of the complainant in the cartoon posted on his social media. Comments on his social media post had also allegedly included derogatory remarks on Lord Shiva.

The cartoonist was charged under Sections 196, 299, 302, 352, 353(3) of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNC), and Section 67-A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

“On the face of it, the conduct of the applicant (Mr. Malviya) in depicting the RSS, which is a Hindu organisation, along with the Prime Minister of this country in the aforesaid caricature, coupled with his endorsement of a rather demeaning remark, dragging unnecessarily the name of Lord Shiva in the comments tagged to it, is nothing but the sheer misuse of the freedom of speech and expression as enshrined under Art.19(1)(a) of the Constitution,” Justice Abhyankar said, after hearing the arguments.

The social media post becomes “more unsettling when the aforesaid derogatory lines involving Lord Shiva are also added to it, and which have also been favourably endorsed by the applicant himself, who is also encouraging other people to experiment with the said caricature, which certainly cannot be said to be made in good taste or faith,” the court said.

Further going on to explain the cartoon, Justice Abhyankar said that Mr. Malviya’s act was apparently “deliberate and malicious”.

Mr. Malviya’s lawyer advocate, Rishabh Gupta, tried to draw a comparison to the former’s work with the work of noted cartoonists, including the late R.K. Laxman. The court, however, dismissed the argument saying that no similar caricature has been brought to its attention.

“The applicant [Mr. Malviya] ought to have used his discretion while drawing the aforesaid caricature, and he has clearly overstepped the threshold of freedom of speech and expression, and does not appear to know his limits. In view of the same, this Court is of the considered opinion that the custodial interrogation of the applicant would be necessary,” the order read.

Mr. Malviya has been booked in past on at least two occasions. He was reportedly booked in 2022 by the Uttarakhand Police over an allegedly offensive cartoon on Yoga guru Baba Ramdev. The Indore police booked him in the same year over his allegedly derogatory remarks following the death of Mr. Modi’s mother.