Orders reserved on bail plea by Munawar Faruqui; How can you hurt the religious feelings of others? Madhya Pradesh High Court asks

The Madhya Pradesh High Court today reserved orders on the bail application moved by comedian Munawar Faruqui and Nalin Yadav following his arrest for allegedly hurting religious sentiments during a show (Nalin Yadav v. State of Madhya Pradesh).

Justice Rohit Arya reserved orders following a hearing today.

Faruiqui's counsel has asserted that there was no video or material to show that Faruqui has made any comment to hurt Hindu deities during his show as alleged. An objection was also made to the Uttar Pradesh Police seeking Faruqui's custody in relation to comments allegedly made during another show in May 2020.

During the course of which the Judge also orally queried,

"How can you hurt the religious feelings of others?"

While Justice Arya asked the petitioner's counsel Vivek Tankha whether he would like to withdraw the case, the counsel responded in the negative and proceeded to make submissions in the matter. Following this, the Court reserved orders on merits.

Faruqui, who was arrested on January 1 by the Madhya Pradesh Police had applied for bail on January 2 before the Sessions Court. After hearing both the sides, the Sessions Court rejected the bail application, observing that there are no grounds for bail and given the seriousness of the case.

Following this order, the Faruqui and three others were sent to judicial custody till January 13. The quartet then approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court challenging this order.

In an earlier hearing, the High Court opted to adjourn the plea by a week on account of the failure of the police to produce the case diary.

Faruqui was arrested on allegations that he made derogatory remarks against Hindu Gods during a recent stand-up show. A complaint to this effect was reportedly filed by Eklavya Singh Gaur, chief of Hindutva organisation Hind Rakshak Sangathan.