Modi-Trump cartoon controversy: Madras HC orders Centre to lift ban on website of Vikatan
India news: Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy directed the government to lift the ban, asking the magazine to temporarily take down the page that had the cartoon.
The Madras High Court directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to lift the ban imposed on the website of Tamil weekly "Ananda Vikatan" for its cartoon on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.
Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy directed the government to lift the ban, asking the magazine to temporarily take down the page that had the cartoon.
The cartoon was available on the online edition of Vikatan, not its print magazine.
Also read: US deports fourth batch of 12 illegal Indian immigrants via Panama, aircraft lands in Delhi
See the cartoon here:
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The court said it would “examine whether the caricature in question falls under artistic and journalistic freedom or whether it is covered under Section 69A of the IT Act," according to Bar and Bench.
Vikatan in a statement on X said, "the cartoon has been removed in compliance with the order of the Hon’ble Madras High Court, subject to further adjudication."
What was there in the Modi-Trump cartoon?
The cartoon showed PM Modi in shackles, sitting next to Trump, referring to the context that Indians are being handcuffed while being deported from the US.
Right before the block, the state BJP said that they had filed a complaint against Vikatan, saying that the cartoon "cast a shadow on the diplomatic progress” made by Modi in America.
Further, Vikatan is now consulting legal experts to determine the next steps.
They said that it had not sent a notice about its website being blocked. They also provided the I&B ministry with a "detailed explanation that the specific cartoon was an expression of freedom of speech”.
(With inputs from agencies)
