The Supreme Court on April 24 transferred multiple FIRs registered against comedian Munawar Faruqui for allegedly hurting religious sentiments to Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
A Bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai also confirmed an ad-interim bail granted by the Supreme Court in February 2021.
The court clarified that it has not made any comments on the merits of the case and Mr. Faruqui was at liberty to approach the High Court concerned in accordance with law for quashing the proceedings against him.
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Initially, Mr. Faruqui’s counsel sought the cases to be transferred to either Mumbai or Delhi. He said there were made against Mr. Faruqui. He had even been manhandled earlier.
The Madhya Pradesh counsel said a complaint filed in Delhi was not registered as an FIR.
The court said Indore was a safe city.
The FIR said Mr. Faruqui made derogatory remarks against Hindu deities during a stand-up comedy show at a cafe in Indore in January 2021.
In February 2021, the apex court had granted ad-interim bail and stayed production warrant issued against Mr. Faruqui.
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The court had made adverse remarks about how the police had hardly complied with the lawful procedure prescribed under Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before arresting the comedian.
Justice Rohinton F. Nariman (now retired) at the time pointed out that the Supreme Court, in a scathing judgment in Arnesh Kumar versus State of Bihar in 2014, had warned State governments and their police from depriving personal liberty without following due process of law. Arrest is not a tool of harassment, the Supreme Court had warned in 2014.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court had refused Mr. Faruqui bail on January 28, 2021. This had, at the time, forced the comedian to appeal to the apex court. The Supreme Court had stayed the High Court’s verdict.
