HC reserves order on jailed stand-up comedian Faruqui's bail plea
Indore, Jan 25: The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday reserved its order on the bail application of stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, arrested on charges of making objectionable comments against Hindu deities during a show here.
The comedian (32) is in judicial custody and lodged at Indore Central Jail since January 1, when he was arrested by the police following a complaint against him filed by Eklavya Singh Gaud (36), son of local BJP MLA Malini Laxman Singh Gaud.
Justice Rohit Arya reserved his order on the bail application after hearing the arguments of both the petitioner and prosecution for around 30 minutes via video conferencing.
The court also asked the prosecution and two local advocates opposing Faruquis bail to furnish documents relating to the case.
Senior advocate Vivek Tankha, appearing for Faruqui, contested the charge against his client under IPC section 295A (outraging religious feelings).
He argued that the comedian, a resident of Junagadh in Gujarat, had not spoken any word that would hurt anybodys religious feeling during the show on January 1 at a cafe in the city.
However, the complainant created a furore on the dais and got the function stopped mid-way, said Tankha.
Government advocate Amit Singh Sisodia opposed Faruquis bail plea.
Local advocates Rajesh Joshi and Manish Gupta, too, opposed bail to the comedian, contending he has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.
They argued that the comedian, during his shows in the past as well, had made objectionable comments against Hindu God and Goddesses and such remarks of his have come to light on online platforms.
The comedian moved the High Court after lower courts turned down his bail pleas.
Besides Faruqui, four other persons associated with organising the show were booked under IPC section 295A (outraging religious feelings) and other counts.
According to the complainant, indecent statements were made at the show against Hindu deities, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the 2002 Godhra incident.
All the accused were booked under IPC sections 295A (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 relevant provisions.
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Gujarat man held for impersonating govt official, duping people with forged letters
Ahmedabad (PTI): The Ahmedabad police have arrested a 29-year-old man who allegedly posed as a senior revenue official and used fake letters claiming to be from various government departments to cheat people, an official said on Sunday.
Mehul Shah, an engineer who manages two schools at Vankaner in Gujarat’s Morbi district, is accused of making lakhs of rupees with bogus documents and false claims, said inspector (crime branch) JK Makwana.
Shah had forged an appointment letter from the Ahmedabad district education officer (DEO) to offer a computer operator’s job in a government office to a complainant’s son. He also introduced himself as a trustee of a school and did not pay a man Rs 7 lakh due to him over the painting of a school building, the official said.
“Despite holding no official position in the state or central government, he used fake work permits and NOCs to cheat people of lakhs of rupees,” the police official said.
One complainant alleged that Shah identified himself as a top revenue department official and produced a fake letter from the chairman of the “department of science and research development” to make him install a siren and curtain in a hired vehicle but did not pay for the job, he said.
Bogus letters claiming to be from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ahmedabad DEO were used by the accused to cheat the complainants, the police official said.
Police have recovered from his possession fake identity cards and letters with headings like “bharat gaurav ratna shri samman council”, “chairman of department of science and research development”, “health and family welfare department”, and “road and building department”.
“The FIR is based on complaints by three victims. We appeal to the people to come forward and submit their complaints if they have been cheated by Shah in any way,” Makwana said.
