NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court fined stand-up comic and YouTuber Samay Raina ₹3 lakh on Tuesday. Four others linked to his show face the same penalty. The order came for violating earlier court directions in a case tied to insensitive remarks about persons with disabilities.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana passed the order. The judges said Raina had taken the court for a ride. They called his conduct a brazen violation of court orders. The Bench also flagged an affidavit filed with nothing on record to back it. The fine must be deposited within two weeks.South Asians & Diaspora
Cure SMA India Foundation filed the original petition. It accused Raina of insensitive remarks on the high cost of treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. The group also alleged he ridiculed a person with the disability. The petition sought regulation of such online content, citing the right to life and dignity of persons with disabilities.
In November 2025, Court had directed Raina and other comedians to host at least two events a month. These events were meant to raise funds for a corpus for disability treatment. The comedians were also told to invite specially-abled persons to join their shows.
Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh, representing the petitioner, told the Court that Raina never reached out to her client or other specially-abled persons for his shows. This failure formed the core of Tuesday’s contempt finding.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also criticised Raina’s conduct. He pointed to a lemon-and-chilli totem Raina hangs on stage as superstition against bad luck. Mehta said this made clear what Raina was mocking.
Agencies