The Supreme Court on Tuesday imposed a ₹3 lakh cost on comedian Samay Raina for allegedly making false statements before the court and failed to comply with its earlier directions in the case regarding his derogatory comments towards people with disabilities.
‘He has taken the court for a ride’: SC
Expressing strong displeasure, the bench observed that Raina had misled the court and “taken the court for a ride” by providing incorrect information during the proceedings.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice J.V. Mohana passed the order while hearing petitions filed by content creators Ranveer Allahbadia and Ashish Chanchlani, along with the Cure SMA Foundation, over the controversy surrounding remarks made on the first season of India’s Got Latent.
A bench of CJI Suryakant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana passed this order when they were informed that Raina had not invited any disabled person to his show, which the court had ordered.
We have sufficient reason to believe that Samay Raina has misled the court and openly violated the orders of this court. This misconduct becomes even more serious when an affidavit is filed despite there being nothing on record. Therefore, we impose a fine on them, which must be deposited within 2 weeks.
The court was hearing a petition by Cure SMA India Foundation, which accused Raina of making insensitive remarks regarding the cost of treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Raina is also accused of mocking a person suffering from such a disability.
The petition was filed seeking to frame rules for the broadcast of such online content that violates the right to life and dignity of persons with disabilities.
Hearing held in November 2025
In November 2025, the court directed Raina and other stand-up comedians to organise at least two events every month to raise funds for the corpus established for the treatment of persons with disabilities.
They were also directed to persuade specially-abled persons to attend their programs.
Today, when this case was heard, senior advocate Aparajita Singh, appearing on behalf of the petitioner organization, claimed that Raina never contacted her or any other specially-abled person to participate in any of his shows.
Samay to pay ₹3 lakh in two weeks
The apex court directed him to deposit the amount within two weeks. It also warned that if he fails to comply with the order within the stipulated time, coercive action will be initiated against him. The court’s remarks came while hearing the matter related to the alleged false statements made by the comedian.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh told the court that Raina had allegedly not contacted the Cure SMA Foundation or people suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), despite assuring the court that he would. She questioned his conduct, saying he continued performing shows but had not fulfilled the commitment made before the court.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also expressed concern over Raina’s conduct. He told the court that in one of his recent performances, the comedian appeared to mock the ongoing legal proceedings by referring to hanging nimbu-mirchi at the start of his show. Mehta said he decided to raise the issue after learning that Raina had allegedly not complied with the court’s directions regarding the SMA Foundation.
What was India’s Got Latent controversy?
Last year in February, an episode of Samay Raina’s show India’s Got Latent was released on YouTube. In this show, Ranveer Allahbadia, who came as a judge, asked an obscene question to a contestant about parents. The question was so objectionable that it cannot be written.
After the episode aired, the show’s clip went viral, after which several complaints were filed against all those associated with the show, including Samay Raina. As the controversy grew, Ranveer Allahbadia issued an apology and Samay Raina had to delete all episodes of the show.
Samay mocked disability, summoned by SC for making fun of ₹16 crore SMA treatment
Samay Raina appeared before the Supreme Court of India nine months ago in connection with a case related to allegedly mocking persons with disabilities. In a stand-up comedy at That Comedy Club, Samay made remarks about a child suffering from a serious condition like Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). In his set, he spoke about the high cost of treatment, mentioning an injection worth ₹16 crore.
During the performance, he asked an audience member- “Look, charity is a good thing, we should do it. I was looking at a charity where there is a two-month-old baby who has something crazy. For his treatment, he needs an injection worth ₹16 crore.’
Samay asked a woman sitting in the show –
Ma’am, you tell me… if you were that mother and ₹16 crore came into your bank. You would look at your husband once and say that inflation is rising, because there’s no guarantee that the child will survive even after that injection. He could die too. Think if he dies after the injection. Even worse, think if the child survives after the 16 crore injection, then grows up and says I want to become a poet.
