The cartoons attract mass attention

In December 2011, social activist, Anna Hazare, announced a hunger strike demanding an anti-corruption bill. Trivedi decided to join and display his anti-corruption cartoons at MMRDA ground, Mumbai. He reached Mumbai with large posters of his cartoons from Cartoons Against Corruption. These and other efforts eventually led to the Jan Lokpal Bill.

The debate in the Parliament

These anti-corruption cartoons also provoked an MP, Ram Kripal Yadav, to initiate a discussion in the Rajya Sabha, labeling the cartoons as an “insult to the Indian Parliament.” RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav raised the issue in the upper house of the Parliament on the same day, when Rajniti Prasad, another MP of his own party, tore up a copy of the Lokpal Bill copy in the same house.^{[10] [11]}

Protests against the ban

Supporters of the artist's right to freedom of expressions continued to issue harsh critiques against Mumbai Police and the domain holder, Big Rock, for taking down the website without giving Trivedi any chance to defend himself or contest the ban.^[12] Many writers, artists, and activists gathered at Rajghat, New Delhi to protest against the undemocratic ban on the Cartoons Against Corruption.^[13][14]

The charges and allegations

The cartoonist faced the serious allegations of insulting national emblem, Parliament, flag and constitution through Cartoons Against Corruption. In January 2012, a case of treason (section 124 A of the Indian Penal Code) was filed against him in Beed District Court, Maharashtra. Additional charges were brought against him by the Mumbai High Court for insulting India's national symbols, under Indian Penal Code (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act 2005. If found guilty of publishing cartoons in violation of this penal code Trivedi can face up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 5,000 rupees (approx. $100). Banning cartoons and harassing cartoonists, though rare, is not unheard of in India. In 1987, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the editor of a weekly magazine was arrested and sentenced to three months of rigorous imprisonment for publishing a cartoon mocking politicians, according to a 2003 account in Frontline magazine. The ensuing furor from the media community saw him released within a few days.^{[17][18][19] [20]}

Trivedi’s imprisonment

Aseem Trivedi was arrested on 9 September 2012, based on a political activist's complaint that his cartoons insulted the country. The arrest highlighted the government's increased sensitivity to criticism.

Aseem Trivedi had originally refused to seek bail and wanted the charges dropped, but changed his mind after receiving assurances from authorities that they would be reviewed, Vijay Hiremath said. Aseem Trivedi walked out of Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail on 12 September 2012 after the local high court said there was no need for him to be held in prison.

In comments after his release, televised from outside the jailhouse, the satirist vowed to continue his campaign against the country's colonial-era law on sedition. "This fight will continue until 124A is repealed," he said, holding a microphone. He was referring to section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, which was introduced by the British colonial government in 1860. The law prohibits "words either spoken or written, or by signs or visible representation" that attempts to cause "hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection," toward the government. Trivedi then thanked his supporters for rallying around him after his arrest triggered a debate over free speech in the world's largest democracy.^[21]