New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed content creator Samay Raina and other comedians to host people with disabilities twice a month after they mocked physical disabilities in a video. The top court also directed them to broadcast programs on the success stories of people with disabilities to raise funds for the treatment of people with disabilities, especially those suffering from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted that the Cure SMA Foundation of India and senior advocate Aparajita Singh had submitted a short note containing success stories of individuals about whom some private respondents had conducted inaccurate and avoidable YouTube shows.
The bench noted that it is rightly suggested that a dedicated fund/corpus be created by the relevant ministry, or if one already exists, it can be widely publicized, inviting corporate entities and individuals to generously donate to the fund specifically for the treatment of persons with disabilities suffering from SMA.
The bench noted that, in accordance with earlier orders, respondents Samay Raina, Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjit Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar alias Sonali Aditya Desai, and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar voluntarily organized fundraising events for this purpose.
The bench noted that they have also voluntarily offered to organize at least two fundraising events a month and have also sought permission from this court to invite individuals with success stories, details of which have been brought on record.
The Supreme Court stated that it is up to comedians to persuade and invite people with disabilities to their platforms to promote the cause of raising funds to provide timely and quality treatment to persons with disabilities, such as those suffering from SMA.
The bench said, “We are confident that if Respondents 6 to 10 express remorse and demonstrate their sincerity and commitment to this cause, then other persons with disabilities who have achieved great success in life will also agree to come on the platform to further publicize this cause. We hope that some such memorable events will occur before the next date of hearing.”
The bench issued this order on a petition filed by the Foundation seeking action against online content that violates the right to life and dignity of persons with disabilities.
In August, the Supreme Court ordered Samay Raina and others to apologize on YouTube and other platforms for making insensitive comments against persons with disabilities.
