Relief kicked in on Friday for comedian Samay Raina, as the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday quashed all the FIRs registered against him over alleged insensitive remarks concerning persons with disabilities (PwD) on the controversial comedy show ‘India’s Got Latent.’
Comedian Samay Raina on India's Got Latent
A Bench of the top court, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice JV Mohana took note of Raina and the other accused complying with the directives issued earlier by the court and ordered that the criminal cases against them be closed.
Court lauds rehabilitation efforts
Earlier, the SC had reprimanded Raina over the allegedly crass jokes and directed him to conduct awareness programmes and raise funds for persons with disabilities. During the hearing on Friday, the bench commended the efforts made by Raina and the others to organise shows aimed at benefitting people with disabilities. The Bench remarked, “Once there are genuine efforts, positive results are bound to be there. They are very bright youngsters. If they have started working in a positive direction, there will be positive output.”
Subsequently, the apex court proceeded to quash the criminal cases arising from the controversial remarks.
Court had imposed Rs 3L cost earlier
The court’s latest order follows a previous hearing during which the SC had imposed a cost of Rs 3 lakh on Raina and four other persons. Back then, the court had observed that Raina had failed to comply with undertakings given to make amends and had effectively ‘taken the court for a ride.’
Later, the comedian and the co-accused undertook measures aimed at raising awareness and supporting persons with disabilities, which the court took into consideration while deciding the matter.
Representative image
Petition flagged remarks on SMA treatment
The legal proceedings stemmed from a petition filed by the Cure SMA India Foundation before the Supreme Court. The organisation alleged that Raina had made insensitive remarks regarding the high cost of treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and had allegedly ridiculed a person living with the condition.
The plea also took exception to remarks allegedly made by Raina, who hosted India’s Got Latest, along with social media personalities like Vipun Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar.
Samay Raina
The controversy focused on an episode of India’s Got Latent recorded in November 2025, following which Raina and other comedians faced multiple cases over allegations of obscene and insensitive comments.