Row Over Cartoon on PM Modi, RSS: SC Grants Interim Protection From Arrest to Hemant Malviya

The Madhya Pradesh High Court previously rejected his bail plea, citing misuse of free speech. Malviya argued the cartoons were satirical commentary on public figures' statements and had been circulating for years.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted protection from arrest to Indore-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya for his objectionable caricatures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar granted interim anticipatory bail to Malviya after he submitted an apology.  It directed him to file the apology in Hindi in the form of an affidavit and directed the parties to complete the pleading till the next date. The apex court has now posted the matter for hearing after August 15.

The apex court was hearing an anticipatory bail application of Malviya for his objectionable caricatures of the PM and RSS. Yesterday, the apex court expressed disapproval of the cartoonist's conduct, saying, “The comedians, cartoonists, etc., look at their conduct...” The Madhya Pradesh High Court on July 3 had rejected his anticipatory bail plea. 

The High Court had said that Malviya had misused the freedom of speech and ought to have used his discretion while drawing the caricature in question.  His plea has clarified that he had published the original cartoon during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic when social media was rife with misinformation and fear related to the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.

The petitioner stated that his cartoon is a satirical caricature work that offers social commentary on the comments made by a public figure regarding some vaccines being effective and "safe like water," despite their efficacy remaining untested through rigorous clinical trials. He further claimed that the caricature was the artist's imagination of a common man being vaccinated by a public representative and has been in public circulation on social media for over four years.

It said that a social media user on May 1, 2025, had posted the cartoon with his comment stating "through implication that caste census is merely a tool to distract the public from issues like Waqf and Pahalgam". The petitioner claimed that Malviya shared that post to demonstrate that his cartoons are freely available for public use and expression, but he did not endorse the views expressed in the added commentary, but acknowledged the use of his cartoon.