'Undignified' Modi caricature: Indore cartoonist denied anticipatory bail by MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has denied anticipatory bail to an Indore-based cartoonist who was booked for allegedly depicting Hindutva organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an “undignified” manner.

Justice Subodh Abhyankar observed in his order on July 3 that the cartoonist, Hemant Malviya, had “clearly overstepped” the limits of free speech and misused his right to expression. The court held that the cartoonist failed to exercise discretion while publishing the caricature in question, and held that his custodial interrogation was necessary.

The case was filed on the complaint of a lawyer and RSS member named Vinay Joshi, who alleged that Malviya had posted objectionable content on Facebook that defamed the organisation and hurt religious sentiments, The Indian Express reported.

Malviya was booked in May at the Lasudia Police Station in Indore under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act pertaining to promoting enmity between different groups, acts intended to outrage religious feelings, intentional insult and electronically publishing or transmitting material containing sexually explicit acts.

During an earlier hearing, Malviya’s counsel submitted before the court that the cartoonist was falsely implicated in the case and had only drawn the caricature as satirical work.

It was also argued that certain comments about the caricature on Facebook were not his...

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