PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has asked police to be sensitive in matters concerning complaints of “outraging religious freedoms” especially if freedom of speech and expression was at stake.
The court has also asked the police to not rush to register an FIR or arrest artistes based on a “frivolous” complaints.
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The matter pertains to a live performance by a group of artistes “Dastaan Live” on the night of December 17, 2019 at the Serendipity Arts Festival, 2019, Campal-Panjim. As a part of the live performance, the band played their set-list of eight songs which were performed in various cities around India, unhindered, till then. One such song performed by the petitioners’ band was the “Mantra Kavita” by Vaidyanath Misra (widely known as Baba Nagarjun), which was originally composed in the year 1969. The next day the ban was summoned at the police station based on a complaint filed by a Supreme Court lawyer accusing them of insulting religious sentiments. Police action like arrest thereafter followed.
The artistes thereafter moved the High Court seeking quashing of the FIR. Upholding the contentions of members of a band of musicians, arrested under Section 295-A (Deliberate and Malicious Intention of Outraging the Religious Feelings) of the Indian Penal Code, the High Court Bench of Justice M S Sonak and Justice M S Jawalkar on Friday quashed the FIR stating that the police were not justified in registering the case, much less arresting them.
“We are satisfied that the prosecution of the petitioners in pursuance of such an FIR will amount to an abuse of the process of the Court. According to us, there was no justification whatsoever for the police inspector to hurriedly register such an FIR, possibly without even going into the complaint or for that matter the provisions of Section 295-A of the IPC,” reads the order.
