New Delhi, 2 Sep

The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave anticipatory bail to cartoonist Hemant Malviya who is accused of sharing allegedly objectionable cartoons of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS workers on social media.

Noting that he has apologised on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria gave the police liberty to seek cancellation of his bail in case the cartoonist did not cooperate in the probe.

During the hearing, Malviya's counsel Vrinda Grover informed the court that an apology was given and that the petitioner had not yet been summoned.

Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj replied that summoning will take place only after all the evidence is gathered.

Malviya was booked by police in Indore in May on a complaint filed by lawyer and RSS worker Vinay Joshi who alleged that he had hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and disturbed communal harmony by uploading objectionable material on social media.

On 15 July, a top court bench of Justices Kumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia gave Malviya protection from coercive action. On Tuesday, it made the order "absolute".

The top court had earlier taken note of an affidavit filed by Malviya in which he had expressed his regret and has tendered a whole hearted apology. The bench expressed the hope that it is not only "from the pen but also from the heart".

Nataraj had submitted that the investigation was pending and the post may be a relevant piece of evidence and deletion at this stage may not be permitted.

In its 15 July ruling, the top court also expressed anguish over the increasing number of objectionable posts on social media and underscored the need to pass a judicial order to curb the malaise.

Malviya has challenged in the apex court a Madhya Pradesh High Court order passed on 3 July refusing to grant him anticipatory bail.

The FIR against him mentioned various "objectionable" posts, including allegedly inappropriate comments on Lord Shiva as well as cartoons, videos, photographs and comments regarding Modi, RSS workers and others. The FIR accused him of posting indecent and objectionable material with the intention of hurting religious sentiments of Hindus and tarnishing the RSS's image.

Malviya's lawyer in the high court contended that he only posted a cartoon and could not be held responsible for comments posted on it by other Facebook users.

The police invoked Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 196 (acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony between different communities), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) as well as Section 67-A (publishing or transmitting in electronic form any sexually explicit material) of the Information Technology Act against the accused.