Supreme Court directs Samay Raina and comedians to host fundraising events for persons with disabilities

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed content creator Samay Raina and several other comedians to organise at least two programmes every month to raise funds for a corpus dedicated to the treatment of persons with disabilities.

The order was issued by a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi in a petition filed by the Cure SMA India Foundation, which sought action against online content allegedly violating the right to life and dignity of disabled persons, as per a Bar and Bench report.

The Foundation accused Samay Raina of making insensitive remarks about the high cost of treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and of ridiculing a person with disability. Similar allegations have been levelled against other comedians named in the case.

The Court noted that, in line with earlier directions, the respondents — Raina, Vipul Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakar (also known as Sonali Aditya Desai), and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar — had volunteered to conduct events to raise funds for the cause. They also sought permission to highlight success stories of differently-abled individuals.

The Bench said it would be up to the respondents to encourage persons with disabilities to participate in these programmes.

“We leave it to respondents 6 to 10 to persuade and invite the specially abled persons on their platforms to promote the cause of generating funds to provide timely treatment to the specially abled, including those suffering from SMA. We are confident that if respondents 6 to 10 show sincerity about showing their achievements, they will also come on the platform for wider publicity of their cause. We hope and expect that such memorable events will take place before we hear the matter next. Let such two programmes be held twice a month,” the Court ordered.

In August, the Court had directed Raina and others to publish apologies on YouTube and other platforms for making insensitive remarks about persons with disabilities. They had also been summoned to appear before the Court.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh, representing the Foundation, had previously suggested that content creators could use their platforms to spotlight the challenges faced by disabled individuals. On Thursday, she submitted a detailed note, following which the Court formalised the directive requiring Raina and the others to conduct the fundraising events.