NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim protection from arrest to Indore-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya, who has been booked over a cartoon shared on social media containing derogatory references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS and said that it would be a test case for the court on how to deal with the offensive posts.The court listed the matter after August 15 for further hearing.A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Aravind Kumar granted interim protection after he tendered unconditional apology, despite strong opposition from Madhya Pradesh govt which placed some of his other offensive posts on social media. The court directed him to file the apology in Hindi in the form of an affidavit and directed the parties to complete the pleading till the next date.At the outset, advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Malviya, informed the bench that the petitioner was offering an apology. Additional solicitor general K M Nataraj, appearing for the state, placed before the bench screenshots of other objectionable social media posts allegedly made by Malviya.The bench said that one of the posts was “very very offensive” and could attract various provisions of Indian Penal Code. “What is happening today, all kinds of statements are being made on social media… the language they use. There are some among the lawyer community also doing this…We will have to do something. Lets this case be a test case,” the bench said, posting the case for after August 15.
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