Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, arrested by the Indore Police nearly two weeks ago for allegedly hurting religious sentiments during a show, has moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking bail, as per a report by ANI.
On 5 January, an Additional District and Sessions court in Madhya Pradesh denied bail to Munawar Faruqui and another accused.
Faruqui, a resident of Gujarat, was arrested along with four others on 2 January on a complaint filed against them by Eklavya Singh Gaur, the son of local BJP legislator Malini Laxman Singh Gaur. The comedian's lawyer, Anshuman Shrivastava, argued that the allegations levelled against his client are "vague" and that he was booked under political pressure. Prosecution lawyer Vimal Mishra claimed that the accused had participated in the event for which no permission had been sought from local authorities and that remarks were made that were "full of obscenity despite the presence of minor boys and girls among the audience", said PTI.
The police booked the accused under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), Section 269 (unlawful or negligent act likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
On 3 January, as per a report by The Indian Express, the Indore Police said that they do not have any video evidence to show that Munawar Faruqui insulted Hindu deities or Amit Shah as has been claimed.
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