SC gets tough on Samay Raina, other influencers for mocking rare disorder, seeks their presence in court

The Supreme Court on Monday asked five social media influencers, including comedian and "India’s Got Latent" host Samay Raina, to appear in court after an NGO accused them of making fun of people with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a rare disorder.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh told the Mumbai Police Commissioner to serve notice to the influencers. If they don’t appear in court, strict legal action will be taken.

The court also called the alleged mockery “very damaging and demoralising.” It said such acts undo efforts made by laws meant to support and include disabled people. The bench told the NGO’s lawyer, senior advocate Aprajita Singh, “You should think of some remedial and punitive action within the law.”

The NGO, Cure SMA Foundation of India, had filed a petition asking for rules to be made for how disabled people and those with rare diseases are spoken about on social media. The bench agreed that action was needed and even discussed creating proper guidelines.

The court reminded everyone that the freedom of speech is not absolute. “No one can be allowed to demean anybody under the garb of the right,” the judges said.

The court also asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to help with the case and advise on the legal side of regulating such online content.

Inputs from PTI