SC to hear bail plea of comedian Munawar Faruqui tomorrow

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday a plea of comedian Munawar Faruqui seeking bail in a case related to allegedly hurting religious sentiments and passing objectionably remarks about Hindu deities during a show in Indore.

A bench headed by Justice RF Nariman will hear the appeal of Munawar tomorrow.

Faruqui, a resident of Gujarat, has moved a writ petition before the top court seeking bail. He has made governments of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Delhi as parties in the case.

In his plea, Faruqui has challenged the Madhya Pradesh High Court order denying him bail. On January 28, Madhya Pradesh High Court had declined to grant him bail in a case for the alleged hurting of religious sentiments. He is accused of passing "indecent" remarks about Hindu deities during a show.

Rejecting the bail plea, the Madhya Pradesh High Court said the liberty of a person has to be "balanced" with his duties towards other citizens.

Faruqui, along with four other event orgsers, was arrested for allegedly insulting Hindu deities during his performance at a cafe in the popular 56 Dukan locality of Indore on New Year's Day. Among others, arrested include Indore-based Prakhar Vyas, Priyam Vyas, Nalin Yadav, and event coordinator Edwin Anthony.

Faruqui is in judicial remand and lodged in Indore Central Jail. A magistrate's court and a session court rejected his bail pleas, following which he moved to the Madhya Pradesh High Court which rejected his bail.

An Allahabad court had also issued a production warrant against Faruqui in a case of the alleged derogatory depiction of Hindu deities by him on social media. An FIR was lodged against the comedian by an advocate in April last year accusing him of mocking and insulting Hindu deities in his viral video clips on social media.

( With inputs from ANI )