The Bombay High Court has quashed a 2010 FIR against Shekhar Suman and Bharti Singh over the ‘Ya Allah! Rasgulla! Dahi Bhalla!’ dialogue. The court held there was no intent to harm religious sentiments, noting the remark was a part of a light-hearted comedy performance and never made with any malicious purpose. Scroll all the way down to read more.
Bombay HC Dismisses FIR Against Shekhar Suman, Bharti Singh
The Bombay High Court has dismissed a 2010 FIR filed against TV actors Shekhar Suman and Bharti Singh. The court observed that a comedy dialogue aired in Comedy Circus Ka Jadoo didn’t show any intention to harm religious sentiments. Furthermore, it also noted that criminal proceedings can’t be initiated casually against performers or judges of entertainment shows. Saying viewer offence from out-of-context content is just not enough.
The case was linked to an episode broadcast in November 2010. The episode saw Shekhar Suman appear as a judge, and Bharti Singh perform. The contested line, ‘Ya Allah! Rasgulla! Dahi Bhalla!’ was alleged to have hurt religious sentiments. Thus, leading Mohd Rasabi to file an FIR on the Pydhonie police station in Mumbai. The report was filed under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code.
The actors had approached the High Court in 2012 looking for the quashing of the FIR. Their counsel argued that the show, ‘Comedy Circus Ka Jadoo’, was intended purely as light-hearted family entertainment featuring comedic acts. Moreover, with no connection to real-life issues or any intention to offend religious beliefs. It was also identified that the required prior sanction for prosecution was not obtained, making the case procedurally invalid.
High Court Rejects Offence-Based FIR
Accepting the arguments, the court observed that simply feeling offended is just not sufficient for prosecution. Unless, a transparent intent to insult religious sentiments is proven. The bench stated: “There should be deliberate targeting of spiritual feeling. There should be a malicious object,” the HC said. It further added, “If the criticism is taken at its face value, the fabric doesn’t show an intention to outrage the religious feelings of any class. At its highest, it suggests that some viewers could have felt offended by the sort of expression utilized in the performance. But offence felt by a piece of viewers is just not enough in law unless the mental element can be disclosed.”
The Additional Public Prosecutor had argued that the matter should proceed to trial to find out whether an offence was made out. Nevertheless, the court rejected this view, stating, “The mere saying that trial should proceed cannot cure the absence of legal ingredients.” The court also emphasised the character of the programme. Noting that it was designed as family entertainment and had been running successfully for a very long time. It observed, “A judge in a comedy show doesn’t stand within the position of a speaker making a declaration against a spiritual group.”
Ultimately, the High Court concluded that there was no legal basis to proceed the proceedings and accordingly quashed the FIR.
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Sonali Singh watches movies prefer it’s a job (and truthfully, it sort of is). Currently pursuing her Master’s in Communication and Journalism, she lives somewhere between deadlines and movie scenes. If it’s Bollywood, she’s already invested—movies, drama, and all of the gossip included. When she’s not writing, she’s either dancing her heart out like nobody’s watching or attempting to mimic people, proving that not all talents are supposed to be discovered.