India's Got Latent host Samay Raina, other influencers appear in SC over remarks mocking disabled

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi asked the influencers to file their responses to the plea within two weeks.

All five except Sonali Thakkar have been asked to appear in person mandatorily.

Thakkar has been allowed to appear virtually due to her physical condition.

The five including Raina had allegedly mocked people with disabilities including Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) on the show.

The bench has asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to formulate social media guidelines balancing the right to freedom of speech and expression and rights and dignity of others.

The show India's Got Latent was embroiled in a massive controversy in February this year after podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia made crass remarks related to parents and sex on one episode of the show.

The remark had not only offended the audience but also prompted people to object to various other controversial jokes which were passed in other episodes of the show.

The Supreme Court had made it clear that it was not in favour of imposing a regulatory system that could lead to censorship but maintained that content creators could not have unchecked freedom.

The court directed the Centre to formulate a framework for regulating online media content while ensuring that it does not lead to outright censorship.