The Bombay high court on Friday granted interim relief to composer-singer Kailash Kher, who has been accused of hurting religious sentiments through one of his earlier songs. The court restrained the Mumbai police from taking coercive action against him on a bailable warrant issued by a Ludhiana court last month. The warrant was issued after Kher failed to appear before the court in connection with the case.
While hearing a petition filed by Kher requesting that the complaint be quashed, a division bench of justices VM Kanade and PD Kode granted him relief and issued notices to the state government and complainant Narinder Makkar, a Ludhiana resident.
Makkar had filed a complaint alleging that a song called 'Babam Bam', released by Kher in 2007, had hurt his sentiments. According to the complaint, the album, of which the song is a part, also featured a skimpily dressed girl and vulgar scenes.
Kher's advocate Ashok Saraogi argued that while the song had released in 2007, the complaint was filed recently to gain cheap publicity. He also argued that the singer had never received any summons and notice from the Ludhiana court at.
After learning about the bailable warrant, Kher approached the HC. According to his petition, he had tried to locate the court in Ludhiana where the complaint was filed, but to no avail.
Additional public prosecutor Poornima Kantharia argued since the complaint was filed in Ludhiana, the singer would have to approach the courts there for relief.
Kher's petition said that since all acts pertaining to the song took place in Mumbai and not in Ludhiana, the Bombay HC had that jurisdiction to quash it.
Granting him interim relief, the HC stated that if the Ludhiana police came to execute the warrant, they will have to first take help from the Mumbai police as they do not have jurisdiction in the city. The next hearing is on August 4.
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