Cinema VinesOn Friday, a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, together with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, dismissed the criminal complaints and closed the case against Samay Raina and four co‑accused – Balraj Ghai, Sonali Thakker, Nishant Tanwar and Vipul Goyal. The charges had been filed over remarks made by the personalities on the television programme India’s Got Latent, which were alleged to be offensive to people with disabilities.
Representing Raina and the others, Lavin Hirani, Managing Partner at Hirani & Associates, explained that the court had taken into account the respondents’ compliance with prior directives. These included the Super Heroes Cup 2026, a chess championship for sixteen differently‑abled players, as well as a range of awareness activities and live ticketed shows held in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. The senior advocate for the petitioning foundation acknowledged the respondents’ genuine efforts to engage with the community and the court noted that there was no reason to doubt their continued commitment to celebrating the lives and dignity of persons living with SMA.
While the court resolved the immediate case, it kept alive a broader petition seeking comprehensive guidelines and safeguards for online content that concerns persons with disabilities. The bench has requested a revised proposal on this matter and is awaiting a detailed order, which has not yet been uploaded to the public record. The statement provided here is a summary of the open‑court proceedings held on 14 August 2026 and the compliance affidavit submitted to the court, pending the final order.
