High Court Rejects Plea For FIR Against Delhi Art Gallery Over Exhibition Of 'Offensive' MF Husain Paintings On Hindu Deities

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition challenging a trial court order refusing to register an FIR against the Delhi Art Gallery and its Directors over exhibition of two allegedly offensive paintings of Indian painter MF Husain on Hindu deities. Justice Amit Mahajan rejected the plea filed by lawyer Amita Sachdeva and said that the Trial Court is already seized of the matter and will duly examine whether the ingredients of the alleged offence are satisfied. The Court said that if, during the course of the trial, Sachdeva is able to substantiate her allegations, the law will take its course and appropriate action will be taken against the accused persons.It added that an offence relating to the outraging of religious feelings must be found on a direct impact on the complainant himself and that the law requires that the person alleging such an offence must themselves have experienced the injury or hurt caused by the material in question.“A complaint under the alleged offence cannot be treated as being in a representative capacity on behalf of an entire community or class. Only those individuals who personally came across the alleged offensive material and whose religious sentiments were actually offended, are entitled to seek recourse under the said provision,” the Court said. The judge found no merit in Sachdeva's contention that the display of the alleged offensive paintings hurts the religious sentiments of millions of people in Sanatan community, which warranted registration of FIR.“In the instant case, this court is of the opinion that no exceptional circumstances have been presented to warrant the exercise of its extraordinary jurisdiction under Section 528 of the BNSS. There is no indication of any miscarriage of justice or legal irregularity in the proceedings undertaken by the two lower courts, and the petitioner has not pointed out any such deficiencies,” the Court said. Justice Mahajan upheld the sessions court order which upheld an order passed by JMFC Court earlier this year, also refusing to register an FIR in the case. Dismissing Sachdeva's plea, Justice Mahajan refrained from entering into the merits of her contentions regarding the nature of the exhibition or the impact of the paintings on public sentiment, observing that such issues are matters to be examined during trial based on evidence and not within the scope of the proceedings before the High Court.“It is apparent that the petitioner is merely seeking the assistance of the police to conduct a fishing and roving inquiry. As is evident from the above narration of facts and the Action Taken Report filed by the Police before the learned ASJ, all pertinent facts and evidence are within the petitioner's reach, and she can present such information during the inquiry conducted by the learned Trial Court pursuant to Section 223 of the BNSS,” the Court said that“Moreover, it must be noted that even after cognizance is taken, the learned Trial Court is vested with powers under Section 225 of the BNSS to requisition police assistance for further investigation, should the need arise. In the l present case, given the afore-mentioned factors, the need for police involvement in evidence collection appears to be minimal, as the complainant is well-equipped to facilitate the presentation of evidence on her own behalf,” it added.In a tweet, Sachdeva said that she clicked pictures of the paintings last month and filed a complaint at Parliament Street police station. She alleged that there were nude paintings of Hindu deities.She said that during a visit with the IO concerned, the paintings were removed and it was claimed they were never displayed.She alleged that the Delhi Police had not registered an FIR against the Delhi Art Gallery and its Directors for exhibiting the offensive paintings.“It's unclear if the police have preserved the CCTV footage from 4th to 10th December, as requested in my application, to determine who removed the paintings and why,” she tweeted.Title: AMITA SACHDEVA v. STATE OF NCT OF DELHI & ORSCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1093Click here to read order

High Court Rejects Plea For FIR Against Delhi Art Gallery Over Exhibition Of 'Offensive' MF Husain Paintings On Hindu Deities

Nupur Thapliyal

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