New Delhi, July 15 - The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim protection from arrest to a cartoonist accused of sharing alleged objectionable cartoons of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS workers on social media. A bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Arvind Kumar said that legal action can be taken against him if he shares any other objectionable post on social media.
The Supreme Court had expressed its displeasure over the alleged offensive online posts and said, "Log kisi ko bhi, kuch bhi keh dete hai (People say anything to anyone)".
Accused Hemant Malviya challenged the Madhya Pradesh High Court's July 3 order in which he was denied anticipatory bail.
A complaint was filed against him in May at Indore's Lasudiya police station by lawyer and RSS worker Vinay Joshi, and a case was registered against him. Joshi alleged that Malviya hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and disturbed communal harmony by uploading objectionable content on social media.
The FIR mentions several "objectionable" posts, including allegedly derogatory comments on Lord Shiva, as well as cartoons, videos, photos and comments about Modi, RSS workers and others.