On January 6, comedian Munawar Faruqui finally walked out of the jail as a free man. This was 36 hours after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court on February 5. According to the apex court, the FIR was 'vague' and there was no reason to keep him in custody.
So how did things get this far? Well, it all started over a month back. Let's rewind to understand the sequence of events:
Arrested On January 1
Munawar Faruqui along with his aides was taken into custody on January 1. He was accused of insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses during a comedy show in Indore. "The evidence/material collected so far, suggest that in an organized public show under the garb of standup comedy at a public place on commercial lines, prima facie; scurrilous, disparaging utterances, outraging religious feelings of a class of citizens of India with deliberate intendment, were made by the applicant," the court had said.
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Who is Eklavya Singh Gaud?
Soon after the show, Eklavya Singh Gaud, son of BJP MLA Malini Laxman Singh Gaud, had filed a complaint against Faruqui and others.
Gaud had said that he and his associates went to watch the show and they witnessed Faruqui allegedly make indecent jokes about Hindu deities. Gaud further said that he forced the organizers to stop the show soon after that.
Reports also emerged that Faruqui and his associates were beaten by members of the audience.
Statement of Police
SHO of Tukojiganj police station Kamlesh Sharma confessed there was no video evidence against Munawar. However, many senior officers said there was evidence. Meanwhile, according to Indore Superintendent of Police Vijay Khatri, Munawar had not even started his performance when he was arrested.
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High Court Denies Bail
On January 28, the Madhya Pradesh High Court denied bail to Munawar. “There is also a specific assertion by the learned counsel for the complainant that the applicant along with other co-accused persons allegedly making outraging filthy jokes in social media deliberately against Hindu Gods, Lord Shriram and Goddess Seeta hurting religious sentiments of Hindus for the last 18 months despite, protest on various social media platforms. There is nothing on record to the contrary,” it observed.
Bail Granted By Supreme Court
On February 5, the Supreme Court called the FIR 'vague' and ordered Munawar to be released on interim bail.
Munawar Released
Late in the night on February 6, Munawar was released from jail 36 hours after the bail order came through.
