The Supreme Court has laid down a framework for portraying persons with disabilities in visual media, Bar and Bench reported. 

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala was hearing disability rights activist Nipun Malhotra’s petition over disparaging remarks against persons with disabilities in the movie Aankh Micholi, produced by Sony Pictures India. 

The court directed to avoid using words that lead to institutional discrimination and contribute to a negative self-image, such as “crippled”, to avoid language that overlooks social barriers faced by individuals with disabilities, and to ensure creators verify adequate medical information about an impairment, such as night blindness, to prevent increasing discrimination. 

The court said portrayals should not be based on myths or stereotypes, such as the notion that individuals with impairments possess enhanced sensory superpowers, as this is not universally applicable. It also said that decisions should be made with awareness of uniform participation, adhering to the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’.”

“There have been jokes made on disabled for comic relief. This understanding is obsolete under the new social model. This lack of familiarity arises due to inadequate representation of disabled in dominant discourse. We must distinguish disability humour which helps in understanding the disabled, but the other is disablement humour which denigrates it,” the court said.

The court also referred to training and sensitisation programs as well as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which includes measures to ensure accurate portrayals after consultation with their rights advocacy groups.

The Supreme Court had in March sought the Centre’s response.

The Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed Malhotra's plea, saying that there should not be too much censorship. It had said that India was already among the few countries that have prior censorship laws in place.

Senior advocate Sanjoy Ghose with advocates Jai Anant Dehadrai and Pulkit Agarwal appeared for Malhotra. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Central Board of Film Certification.

Senior advocates Parag Tripathi and Ritin Rai, along with advocates Gowree Gokhale, Alipak Banerjee, Tanisha Khanna, Karishma Karthik from Nishith Desai Associates, and Salvador Santosh Rebello, advocate-on-record appeared for appeared for Sony Pictures India, the film’s producers.

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