The Bombay High Court ruled that the comedy show line “Ya Allah! Rasgulla! Dahi Bhalla!” did not intend to hurt religious sentiments. It quashed the 2010 FIR filed against actors Shekhar Suman and Bharati Singh in the case.
The Bombay High Court held that there was no intention to hurt religious sentiments in a dialogue from a comedy TV show “Ya Allah! Rasgulla! Dahi Bhalla!” and quashed a 2010 FIR filed against actors Shekhar Suman and Bharati Singh.
The court cautioned against using criminal law casually against artists.
The dialogue aired in November 2010 as part of the comedy program, where Suman acted as a “judge” and Singh was a performer.
The court observed that criminal proceedings should not be initiated against an artist or a show judge merely because someone claims to have felt offended by a performance when viewed out of context.
“If the complaint is taken at its face value, the material does not show an intention to outrage the religious feelings of any class. At the highest, it suggests that some viewers may have felt offended by the style of expression used in the performance.”
It further noted,
“There must be deliberate targeting of religious feeling. There must be malicious object,”
And found that no such elements were shown, leading to the quashing of the FIR.
The FIR was filed by one Mohd Rasabi at the Pydhonie police station in Mumbai, invoking Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, alleging that the dialogue offended the religious sentiments of the Muslim community.
In 2012, the actors separately approached the High Court through petitions seeking quashing of the case.