Overview

• A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar granted Hemant Malviya interim protection from arrest after he removed the contested social media posts.
• The court described the 2021-era caricatures of Prime Minister Modi, RSS workers and religious figures as “inflammatory” and an abuse of free speech.
• Justices cautioned that any further “offensive” content would allow the Madhya Pradesh government to pursue action under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and IT Act provisions.
• The order underscored the Supreme Court’s concern over unchecked online speech, called for citizen self-restraint and signalled possible judicial guidelines on social media abuse.
• Malviya had appealed to the Supreme Court after the Madhya Pradesh High Court on July 3 refused him anticipatory bail following an FIR by RSS worker Vinay Joshi.