Supreme Court Grants Interim Protection To The Cartoonist Hemant Malviya Over Objectionable Posts On PM And RSS

On July 15, 2025, Tuesday, a bench of Supreme Court comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar granted interim protection to the cartoonist Hemant Malviya. Malviya faced accusations of sharing objectionable cartoons of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS workers on the social media. The bench, however, cautioned the cartoonist that the state would be at liberty to take action as per the law if he continued to share offensive material online. The bench further said that “We will have to do something about it,” and added, “Log kisi ko bhi, kuch bhi keh dete hain [People say anything to anyone]’.” 

Malviya agrees to remove objectionable posts

On July 14, 2025, Monday the Supreme Court of India had criticized Malviya for sharing objectionable cartoons of PM Narendra Modi and RSS workers. During a brief hearing on Monday, the top court’s two-judge bench, headed by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Aravind, expressed disapproval and dissatisfaction of the cartoonist’s conduct. The top court had asked that if the petitioner was willing to delete his cartoons. Malviya’s lawyer Vrinda Grover had agreed to it. 

Why was case filed against Malviya?

Vinay Joshi, an RSS worker and advocate, had filed a complaint against Malviya for allegedly posting cartoons about the RSS, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Lord Shiva. The Madhya Pradesh police had then filed a case against Malviya in Indore. Malviya had told The Indian Express that he was being targeted for his cartoons that pose questions to the administration. The cartoonist had mentioned that he has 40,000 followers on his Facebook page. He had said that all his cartoon characters are fictional and any resemblance to real life people is coincidental. Malviya had said that he is an Indore based cartoonist and wedding decorator.

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