The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted interim relief to Raveena Tandon, Farah Khan and Bharati Singh on March 12, 2020 for having hurt religious sentiments of the Christian community on Farah Khan's show called “Backbenchers”.
An FIR was filed under Section 295-Aof Indian Penal Code, 1860 that states the deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
The celebrities as alleged made fun of the word "Hallelujah" on the show. The episode was telecasted on November 30, 2019. This show is a non-scripted comedy based web quiz show that is hosted by Farah Khan.
The High Court has issued notice in the plea filed to quash the FIR.
The matter is listed for hearing on March 25, 2020 and Justice Sudip Ahluwalia has directed that no coercive steps be taken against the petitioners till the date of hearing.
It was contended by the advocates of the Respondent that the celebrities did not know the meaning of the word and thus it cannot be contended that they had possessed the intention to hurt the religious sentiments of a community.
Advocates Abhinav Sood, Gaurav Girish Shukla, Pallav Mongia and Rohit Sharma have filed the petitions on the behalf of the petitioners.
Author - Dyuti Pandya
