They are self-styled youth icons: Supreme Court slams influencers Samay Raina, Ranveer Allahbadia

The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) slammed comedian Samay Raina and YouTubers Ranveer Allahbadia and Ashish Chanchlani for not complying with its order, observing that they are self-styled youth icons.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana passed the order after it was informed that Mr. Raina had not invited any disabled persons to his show according to its earlier order.

“We have no reason to doubt that Samay Raina has taken the court for a ride. He is in brazen violation of statements/ undertakings given before this court.

“The misconduct is sought to be compounded by stating that a compliance affidavit was filed yesterday; however, no affidavit has been filed,” the bench said.

The CJI remarked that they think sitting outside the country they are beyond jurisdiction.

“Let them suffer now. If this is not arrogance, then we have to change the Oxford dictionary also,” the CJI observed.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by Cure SMA India Foundation alleging that Mr. Raina made insensitive remarks about the high cost of treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy and also allegedly ridiculed a person with such a disability.

During the hearing, senior advocate Aparajita Singh, appearing for the organisation, told the court that Mr. Raina never contacted them to join any of his shows.

The plea flagged jokes made by “India’s Got Latent” host Samay Raina and other social media influencers Vipun Goyal, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Sonali Thakkar and Nishant Jagdish Tanwar.

Highlighting the need for a stringent law to protect the dignity of the disabled, the Supreme Court on Thursday (July 19, 2026) asked the Centre to consider framing a statute to make derogatory remarks ridiculing persons with disabilities and rare genetic disorders a penal offence on the lines of the SC-ST Act.

Asking them to be careful about their conduct in future, the bench also directed comedians Raina and others to hold two programmes or shows per month about the success stories of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) to generate funds for the treatment of disabled persons, especially those suffering from SMA.