Court dismisses FIR plea against Sonu Nigam

Stating that a series of tweets of singer Sonu Nigam on azaan were not meant to insult any religion or religious belief, Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed a plea filed by a Sonepat resident seeking registration of an FIR against Nigam for violating his fundamental rights.

Aash Mohammad, a resident of Sonepat, Haryana, had filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court stating that the singer had violated his fundamental rights through the tweets posted last month. He had sought directions from the state to file the FIR.

Dismissing the plea, the single-judge bench of Justice MMS Bedi reprimanded the petitioner for seeking to exaggerate a sensitive issue and termed it as a cheap mode of attaining publicity by making a renowned singer a scapegoat in the name of religion.

"Azaan is no doubt an essential part of the Muslim religion but the use of microphone is certainly not an integral part of azaan," said Justice Bedi, while stating that the tweets were meant to criticise the use of loudspeakers for religious purposes.

The judgment highlighted that there was no violation of any Article of the Constitution.

"A fair interpretation of the words used by Nigam clearly indicate that the word 'gundagardi' in his tweet is not addressed to the azaan, but is meant for the user of loudspeakers and amplifiers...by the way, Mohammed did not have access to electricity when he made Islam," read the judgement.

"Such a practice deserves to be deprecated to secure the spirit of our preamble and to perform our fundamental duties to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India..." said Justice Bedi.