MUNAWAR FARUQUI GETS BAIL, INDIAN COMIC WHO DID NOT CRACK A JOKE

Fri 05 February 2021:

Stand-up comic Munawar Faruqui, in jail for over a month over allegations of “insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses” during a show, was granted interim bail today by the Supreme Court, which also issued notice to the Madhya Pradesh government and put on hold a warrant against him in Uttar Pradesh.

Issuing notice to Madhya Pradesh on the comedian’s request that the FIR (First Information Report) against him be cancelled, the Supreme Court agreed with his lawyer that procedure was not followed.

Munawar Faruqui’s lawyer had argued that a person cannot be arrested without a magistrate’s order or a warrant, which is stated in Section 41 of the Criminal code.

“Do you say that Section 41 CrPC was not followed as per our 2014 judgment,” Justice Rohington Nariman asked the lawyer, Gaurav Kirpal.

Mr Kirpal said it wasn’t and his client was being harassed. He also told the top court that a production warrant was out for Munawar Faruqui in Uttar Pradesh; the warrant was stayed.

Munawar Faruqui had been denied bail thrice before. The Madhya Pradesh High Court refused to grant him bail on January 28.

The 29-year-old comedian was arrested on a complaint by a BJP MLA’s son over a show in Indore on January 1. Four others were also arrested.

All of them were accused of making “filthy and indecent jokes” about Hindu Gods and Goddesses, as well as Home Minister Amit Shah, according to the complaint by Eklvaya Singh Gaur, the son of a BJP MLA.

Even police later said they had no evidence that the comic had insulted Hindu gods – and the charge was based on the complainant overhearing “some jokes” the comic had been preparing for the show.

“The evidence/material collected so far, suggest that in an organized public show under the garb of standup comedy at a public place on commercial lines, prima facie; scurrilous, disparaging utterances, outraging religious feelings of a class of citizens of India with deliberate intendment, were made by the applicant,” said the High Court order.

Mr Faruqui’s lawyer had argued that he had been invited by the organisers of the show and was present but he had not made any such jokes that day.

But the High Court rejected it, saying the possibility of more “incriminating material” could not be ruled out as investigations were still on. It also referred to a similar case filed against the comic in Uttar Pradesh and his social media posts.

Eklvaya Singh Gaur, who leads a right-wing Hindu outfit, had interrupted the show on 1 January, complaining that Mr Faruqui’s sets were offensive to Hindus.

A mobile phone video recorded by an audience member shows Mr Faruqui pleading with Mr Gaud, saying that he also jokes about Muslims in his shows and that he should be allowed to continue.

“I just want to make people laugh. If anyone feels offended I will never do it again,” he tells Mr Gaud. Audience members can be heard yelling, “Let the show begin.”