Kamal Ghorui
Sixteen years after a controversy erupted over a joke on the television show ‘Comedy Circus Ka Jadoo’, the Bombay High Court has quashed the FIR filed against actor-host Shekhar Suman and comedian Bharti Singh, offering them long-awaited relief. The verdict came on May 1. For those not in the know, an FIR was filed against Shekhar Suman and Bharti for the objectionable words, “Ya Allah! Rasgulla! Dahi Bhalla!”The court said, “Mere mention of food items in a comic act cannot amount to an insult to religion. Something more is required. There must be material to show that the words were selected as a weapon of offence,” the court said.Meanwhile, now Shekhar Suman has reacted to the court’s verdict and getting relief on the case after 16 years. He told Hindustan Times, “I did not even know about it. It was Bharti who had said something innocuously, with no religious connotation. I wasn’t even part of it, but was unnecessarily dragged into the matter to gain publicity.”He added, “I’m extremely thankful to the honourable judge who trashed the case. It came as a surprise. I had long forgotten about it. I wasn’t sent a notice or asked to appear for my stand. Thank God for that. Imagine how some people waste the precious time of court and hassle innocent citizens. Justice prevails.”The case dates back to 2010, when a complaint was lodged over allegedly objectionable remarks aired on the Sony TV programme. Along with Suman and Singh, the channel and a scriptwriter were also named in the FIR. The complaint, filed by a representative of Raza Academy, alleged that Bharti had made a joke referencing a Quranic verse, which was then repeated by Suman during the episode.
