Hurting religious sentiments: HC relief for singer Miss Pooja

Chandigarh: In a respite to Punjab singer Miss Pooja alias Gurinder Kaur Kainth, the Punjab and Haryana high court has quashed an FIR filed against her and others for hurting religious sentiments. She was booked after a video of a song named ‘Jeeju’ was released, wherein she was depicted beating up her drunk husband, who she imagined to be Yamraj, a role portrayed by the petitioner with a ‘gada’. The song was stated to have hurt religious feelings of the complainant, an advocate by profession who had approached the local court through an application under Section 156(3) of the code of criminal procedure (CrPC) seeking registration of an FIR (first information report) against her.Taking cognizance of the complaint filed by the lawyer, Nyayadhikari Gram Nyayalaya, Nangal, in its order dated April 26, 2018, had ordered to register an FIR against her and others under section 295-A for hurting religious sentiments. On April 27, 2018, the FIR was registered at Nangal police station, Rupnagar district. “Considering the impugned orders passed in present cases, in light of the exposition of law, the reflection of application of mind is conspicuously missing therein, as evidently the magistrate had neither assimilated nor verified the truth and veracity of the allegations and merely mentioned that prima facie, an offence was made out, that too without even having watched the questioned song, which purportedly had hurt the religious feelings of the complainant, while it is settled that in such an act, there must be a malicious and deliberate attempt to outrage the religious feelings of one class,” Justice Aman Chaudhary of the high court has observed in his orders.Justice Chaudhary observed that a remedy under Section 156(3) is not of a routine nature but exercise of powers therein requires total application of judicial mind and that while passing an order under Section 156(3) CrPc, the magistrate shall record a short order disclosing the reasons to send for investigation.