Comedian in jail: Lawyer says classic case of non-application of judicial mind

Comedian Munawar Faruqui who has been in jail for three weeks for allegedly hurting religious sentiments during a show did not utter a word that would have been offensive to any religion or any person said lawyer Anas Tanwir founder of Indian Civil Liberties Union ICLUFaruqui was arrested by Madhya Pradesh police on January 1 in a case of alleged objectionable depiction of Hindu deities and hurting religious sentiments of people during a performance at a cafe in Indore He is lodged in Indore jail since thenEklavya Singh Gaud 36 son of local BJP MLA Malini Laxman Singh Gaud and convenor of Hindu Rakshak Sanghatan had filed a police complaint claiming he had been to Faruquis show and that it contained indecent comments on Hindu gods and goddesses as well as Union Home Minister Amit ShahldquoMunawarrsquos case is a classic case of nonapplication of judicial mind especially in granting bail or granting remand There is no evidence of any allegations against Munawar He did not get a chance to perform at the said so He did not utter a word that would have been offensive to any religion or any person and the court should have seen thatrdquo said Anas TanwirFaruqui who hails from Gujarat has been booked under Indian Penal Code IPC sections 295A outraging religious feelings 269 unlawful or negligent act likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life among othersSince his arrest Faruquis bail plea has been rejected by the chief judicial magistrate and the sessions court stating that lsquohis release would disrupt law and orderrsquo Following this he approached the Madhya Pradesh High CourtDuring the last hearing in the HC on January 16 the Indore police had failed to produce the case diary and said that it had no evidence whatsoever to back the allegations made against the comedianldquoWhen there is an admission by the police on record that he did perform or he did not say anything in the skit that he performed in Indore then there is no reason why he should be in jail And more unfortunate is the case of his friend who went there just to meet him and he has been put in jail This is against the very core of law and order This is against the very core of rule of lawrdquo added Anas TanwirEver since the incident many people have pointed out the arbitrary nature of the arrests made in the caseHere are some of the tweets by prominent personalities1How can a comic be in jail for a joke he didnt make Tomorrow it will be our turn for lines we didnt write things we didnt do ReleaseMunawarFaruqui httpstco0On8C498R9mdash dr meena kandasamy meenakandasamy January 22 2021You cant stop jokes and laughter Not because comedians are performing it but because people need to laugh Harder you try the more youre going to be laughed at now and by history Anyone who has ever tried to control humour now has a category of jokes devoted to themmdash Vir Das thevirdas January 3 2021On Thursday senior Congress leader P Chidambaram expressed displeasure about courts not following the principle of granting bails before imprisonment and pointed to Faruquirsquos caseldquoWhy are the courts denying bail to journalist Siddique Kappan and comedian Munawar Faruqui Equality means equal access to justice and equal application of legal principlesrdquo Chidambaram said in a series of tweetsWhy are the courts denying bail to journalist Siddique Kappan and comedian Munawar Faruqui Equality means equal access to justice and equal application of legal principlesmdash P Chidambaram PChidambaram_IN January 21 2021ldquoDespite the judgement of the Constitution Bench Justice Ravindra Bhat and another Bench Justice Chandrachud why is the principle lsquoBail is the Rule and Jail is the Exceptionrsquo not being applied in every caserdquo he addedApart from Faruqui four others have been arrested in the same case