The Bombay High Court, while quashing a complaint against singer Kailash Kher for allegedly hurting religious sentiments with his song on Lord Shiva, cited author A.G. Noorani, stating that intolerance and dissent from orthodoxy have long plagued Indian society.
A division bench comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and S.C. Chandak ruled that Kher had no deliberate or malicious intent to offend religious sentiments by singing ‘Babam Bam.’ The court emphasized that the song did not amount to an attempt to outrage anyone’s religious feelings.
The complaint against Kailash Kher was originally lodged by Narinder Makkar in a Ludhiana court, alleging that the singer’s song ‘Babam Bam’ insulted religious sentiments. The case was filed under IPC sections 295A and 298, which deal with acts intended to deliberately offend religious beliefs. The Bombay High Court’s ruling, issued on March 4 and made public on Thursday, dismissed the allegations.
Makkar, a self-proclaimed devotee of Lord Shiva, had argued that the song’s music video featured inappropriate visuals, including scantily dressed women and scenes of people kissing, which he deemed disrespectful.
However, the high court, while overturning the complaint filed before the Ilaka judicial magistrate in Ludhiana, clarified that the song’s lyrics solely praise Lord Shiva and highlight his divine attributes, dismissing any claims of intentional offense.
"Every action which may be to the dislike of a class of people may not necessarily lead to outraging religious sentiments,” the court said. The bench, referencing author A.G. Noorani, emphasized that intolerance toward dissent has plagued Indian society for centuries. It highlighted that a truly free society is defined not just by tolerating dissent but by embracing the right to it. In its ruling, the bench clarified that for an act to constitute an offense under IPC Section 295A, there must be a deliberate and intentional effort to insult religious sentiments, reinforcing that mere differences in interpretation do not qualify as a criminal act.
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The court noted that the complaint against Kher stemmed from his appearance in a music video featuring dancers in attire deemed inappropriate by the complainant, who argued that it offended his religious sentiments. However, the high court ruled that no offense was established, as there was no deliberate or malicious intent on Kher’s part—he was merely performing the song.
Kher had approached the high court in 2014 after the complaint was filed in a Ludhiana court, and at the time, the HC had granted interim relief, preventing any coercive action against him. In his plea, filed through advocate Ashok Sarogi, Kher maintained that he was solely the singer of the song, while the video’s choreography was handled by another company in collaboration with Sony Music Entertainment.
(with inputs from PTI)
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