In 2007, singer Kailash Kher sang a song on Lord Shiva. A case was filed against Kailash Kher for this song saying that the song had hurt people’s sentiments. The Bombay High Court dismissed the case saying that he did not have such an intention. The judge said that Kher, who only sang the song ‘Babum Bam’, had no intention of hurting anyone’s religious sentiments.
A person named Narinder Makkar had filed a complaint against the singer in a local court in Ludhiana. The complaint alleged that religious sentiments were deliberately hurt. The complainant described himself as a Shiva worshipper and said that Kher’s song ‘Babum Bam’ based on Lord Shiva shows an obscene video in which there are scantily clad women. They are kissing each other.
Dismissing the complaint filed in the area judicial magistrate in Ludhiana, the High Court said that the lyrics of the song sung by Kher are nothing but praise of Lord Shiva. The court said that every act which is disliked by a particular class does not necessarily incite religious sentiments.
The petitioner had demanded from the court that a case should be registered against Kailash under section 295A. On this, the bench said that to register a crime under section 295A of the IPC, there should be a deliberate attempt on the part of the person to hurt someone’s religious sentiments.
Kher had approached the High Court in 2014 after filing a complaint in the Ludhiana Court of Punjab. At that time, the High Court had granted interim relief and said that no punitive action should be taken against the singer. In his petition, Kher said that he is only the singer of the song and the video was choreographed by another company through Sony Music Entertainment. Kher had argued that the video of the song was released only after the Central Board of Film Certification gave approval.
