SC Grants Interim Bail To Munawar Faruqui Arrested For Insulting Hindu Gods, Notice Issued To MP Court For Not Following Procedure
The SC granted interim bail to Munawar Faruqui who was in a case filed against him for allegedly "insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses" during a show. The apex court also issued a notice to Madhya Pradesh Court
The Supreme Court on Friday heard the bail application of comedian Munawar Faruqui in relation to the case registered against him for allegedly insulting Hindu Gods. A bench of Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman andBR Gavaialso stayed the production warrant of Uttar Pradesh Police against Faruqui in a separate case.
The Court issued notice to the Madhya Pradesh government while observing that the law laid down by the Supreme Court in its 2014 judgment in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar was not followed and procedure under Section 41 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was not complied with as quoted by LIVE Law.
Earlier, Madhya High Court had refused the bail plea of comedian Munawar Faruqui and noted that to "promote harmony" is one of the constitutional duties.
Faruqui and four others were booked on January 1 following a complaint by a BJP MLA's son that offensive comments about Hindu Gods and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were passed during a comedy show at a cafe in Indore on New Year's Day. One more person was arrested subsequently.
Rejecting Faruqui's bail plea, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had said it would not comment on the merits of the case, but based on the material seized, the witnesses' statements, and considering the fact that probe was going on, no case is made out for grant of bail.
"The evidence/material collected so far, suggest that in an organized public show under the garb of standup comedy at a public place on commercial lines, prima facie; scurrilous, disparaging utterances, outraging religious feelings of a class of citizens of India with deliberate intendment, were made by the applicant," said the court order on January 28.
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