HC quashes FIR against cartoonist Bala Updated: Updated: ‘No criminality involved in the cartoon drawn by the cartoonist’ Share Article ‘No criminality involved in the cartoon drawn by the cartoonist’ The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has quashed the criminal proceedings against cartoonist G. Bala that was instituted in 2017. The cartoonist had been booked on charges of allegedly defaming then Chief Minister [Edappadi K. Palaniswami], the Tirunelveli Collector and the Police Commissioner in a caricature drawn by him following the usury related self immolation of a family in Tirunelveli. Justice G. Ilangovan observed that there was no criminality involved in the cartoon drawn by the cartoonist and quashed the first information report registered against him by the Tirunelveli police based on the complaint by the then Tirunelveli Collector. The court observed that the petitioner wanted to express his anger, grief and criticism.