Madras HC orders lifting of ban on Vikatan over Modi cartoon

In a major setback to the BJP, the Madras High Court Thursday March 06, 2025 asked the Union Government in New Delhi to lift the ban on Tamil Magazine Vikatan imposed following the publication of a cartoon featuring PM Modi

Chennai: In a major setback to the BJP, the Madras High Court Thursday March 06, 2025 asked the Union Government in New Delhi to lift the ban on Tamil Magazine Vikatan imposed following the publication of a cartoon featuring PM Modi.

The cartoon was envisaged to showcase Prime Minister Modi sitting in a chained position as representative of India's silence to the inhumane treatment meted out to ‘illegal’ Indian migrants deported from the United States.

On February 15, Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai filed a complaint with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) and the Press Council of India saying that the cartoon was ‘objectionable’. The central government immediately swung into action and blocked the Vikatan’s website.

The next day, February 16, some men from the Press Bureau of India visited Vikatan’s office to verify whether the cartoon was also available in the print format. They were informed that it was only for the digital publication. The PIB men did not explain why Vikatan’s website was blocked.

Vikatan asked to remove cartoon

The Madras High Court however asked the centre to lift the ban. Ordering lifting of the ban, Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy, who presided over the bench, observed that nothing in the cartoon impinged on the sovereignty of the country.

To this, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) ARL Sundaresan on behalf of the Centre argued that such cartoons could invariably affect India’s relations with the United States. He further said that the Ministry of Information and Broadcast would unblock Vikatan website if the cartoon was removed.

The Madras High Court in turn directed the Tamil news website to withdraw the page containing the cartoon temporarily.

Following the Madras High Court’s order, Vikatan released a statement saying that the cartoon had been removed.

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