Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday found no intention to hurt religious sentimenta in a comedy TV show dialogue “Ya Allah! Rasgulla! Dahi Bhalla!” and quashed a 2010 FIR against actors Shekhar Suman and Bharati Singh. The HC cautioned against casual invocation of criminal law against artists.The dialogue was in a TV show broadcast in Nov 2010 where Suman was a ‘judge’ in the comedy show and Singh was a performer. The court held that criminal law should not be invoked casually against an artist or a programme judge merely because somebody feels insulted by a performance viewed out of context.” There must be deliberate targeting of religious feeling. There must be malicious object,” the HC said and in the absence of any such connection quashed the FIR. One Mohd Rasabi lodged the FIR with Pydhonie police station in Mumbai invoking offence under section 295A of Indian Penal Code for allegedly offending religious sentiments of Muslim community. The actors approached HC in 2012 in two separate petitions to have the FIR quashed. “If the complaint is taken at its face value, the material does not show an intention to outrage the religious feelings of any class. At the highest, it suggests that some viewers may have felt offended by the style of expression used in the performance. But offence felt by a section of viewers is not enough in law unless the mental element is also disclosed,” the HC ruled. Senior counsel Niteen Pradhan for the actors argued that the show called ‘comedy circus ka jadoo’ was a light family-oriented entertainment of comic performances by various artists, not intended to hurt public or religious sentiments, had no nexus to real life or contemporary public affairs. Besides, no prior sanction was taken as mandated before prosecuting for offence of communal disharmony, argued Pradhan and HC agreed that its lack made the prosecution infirm.Megha Bajoria, state’s additional public prosecutor opposed their plea for relief saying whether an offence is actually made out should be left for trial. If the foundation for an offence itself is absent, then to compel the petitioners to face the rigour of criminal proceedings would itself be unjustified, Justice Borkar observed, and held, “The mere saying that trial should proceed cannot cure the absence of legal ingredients.” Justice Borkar, agreed with Pradhan and said the show’s background and aim to showcase comedy assumes importance. The show was “telecast as a family entertainment and had been running for a considerable time.” “A judge in a comedy show does not stand in the position of a speaker making a declaration against a religious group.”
