Supreme Court quashes FIRs against Samay Raina, four others over India’s Got Latent remarks

The Supreme Court on Friday quashed all FIRs against comedian Samay Raina and four others over controversial and insensitive remarks concerning persons with disabilities made on his show Indiarsquos Got LatentA bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note of their compliance with its earlier directions including conducting awareness programmes and contributing towards initiatives for persons with disabilities news agency ANI reportedApart from Raina the other four against whom the FIRs were quashed are Vipul Goyal Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai Sonali Thakkar also known as Sonali Aditya Desai and Nishant Jagdish TanwarldquoMatter qua respondents 610 is closed Criminal proceedings against respondents 610 are hereby quashed All other related proceedings are set asiderdquo the order statedThe apex court appreciated the efforts undertaken by Raina and the others to engage with persons with disabilities and conduct programmes aimed at raising awareness and funds for themSenior advocate Aparajita Singh appearing for petitioner Cure SMA India Foundation told the bench that the previous order had resulted in a ldquogenuine effort to engagerdquo and that the parties were discussing ways to highlight the achievements of the petitionersSC notes Samay Raina others efforts to raise awareness on disabilityThe bench observed ldquoOnce there are genuine efforts positive results are bound to be there They are very bright youngsters If they have started working in a positive direction there will be positive outputrdquoThe apex court was hearing a petition filed by Cure SMA India Foundation accusing Raina of making insensitive remarks over the high cost of treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy SMA Raina was also alleged to have made insensitive remarks about persons with disabilities on the showDuring the hearing the bench took note of an affidavit filed by Raina and the others detailing the steps taken in compliance with its earlier directionsThe affidavit stated that a chess tournament for speciallyabled persons was organised in Pune in March while four other shows had been scheduled for fundraising purposes but could not be held due to logistical difficultiesThe apex court noted that Raina and the others had expressed willingness to invite persons suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy SMA to such events and provide them financial assistance The court also took note of Rs 125 crore received from the shows and their willingness to donate the amountThe top court particularly appreciated the ldquoconstructive conversationrdquo between Raina and the others and the petitioner NGO noting that they had expressed gratitude for the guidance provided by the NGO in organising the programmesRaina four others get relief as SC keeps larger issue on disability guidelines pendingThe bench expressed confidence that they would continue their efforts to organise events aimed at celebrating the lives and enhancing the dignity of ldquoSMA warriorsrdquo and other persons with disabilitiesDuring the hearing the CJI also referred to his interaction with persons with disabilities on August 13The CJI said the judges had spent around oneandahalf hours with persons with disabilities the previous day and described the interaction as a ldquovery satisfying experiencerdquoldquoWe had an opportunity to interact with some speciallyabled persons It was a learning and eyeopener for us alsordquo the CJI observedWhile granting relief to Raina and the others the bench kept the petition pending on the larger issue concerning the framing of guidelines and said the matter would be listed for issuing appropriate directionsThe top court had earlier imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh each on Raina and the four others for violating its orders in the case arising from the remarks made on the show concerning persons with disabilitiesIt had said Raina had ldquotaken the court for a riderdquo and had brazenly violated the courts orders while imposing a Rs 3 lakh fine for noncompliance with its previous directionWith ANI inputs