The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to issue any guideline on a petition seeking to ban Sikh jokes. "We cannot issue guidelines to regulate individuals", said SC. Court is scheduled to pass the order on March 27.
“Sikhs are a highly respected community but you’re bringing it down by fighting litigation to ban these jokes,” said the court while hearing a petition filed by lawyer Harvinder Choudhary.
The apex court had asked an expert panel headed by former judge HS Bedi to submit draft guidelines so that appropriate orders can be passed to prevent circulation of sardar jokes on websites.
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In July 2016, a bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud gave six weeks time for the panel to hold discussions and submit the guidelines.
The bench passed the order after hearing the counsel for various parties including the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) which said that the community is being bullied by such jokes.
