On Friday, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to standup comedian Munawar Faruqui in a case of allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Faruqui had filed a writ petition as well as a Special Leave to Appeal (SLP), and both were heard by a bench of Justices R F Nariman and B R Gavai.
A complaint by BJP MLA’s son Eklavya Singh Gaur that the comedian Munawar Faruqui made objectional remarks for insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses during his show in Indore led to his arrest on January 1, 2021. Four others were also arrested.
Indore Police accused all of them of making “filthy and indecent jokes” about Hindu Gods and Goddesses, as well as Home Minister Amit Shah. As a result, all of them were jailed.
Munawar Faruqui’s bail was denied thrice. Last time his bail was denied by the Madhya Pradesh High Court on 28th January. Dismissing the bail applications, the HC observed, “There is also a specific assertion by the learned counsel for the complainant that the applicant along with other co-accused persons allegedly making outraging filthy jokes in social media deliberately against Hindu Gods, Lord Shri Ram and Goddess Sita hurting religious sentiments of Hindus for the last 18 months despite, protest on various social media platforms. There is nothing on record to the contrary.”
However, Faruqui’s lawyer had argued that he had been invited by the organisers of the show and was present but he had not made any such jokes that day.
