Case against Husain transferred to Delhi court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ordered transfer of the trial of a criminal case against eminent painter M.F. Husain, facing charges of hurting religious sentiments, from a Haridwar court in Uttarakhand to a Delhi Court.

A bench of Justices B.N. Agarwal and P.P. Naolekar sent the case to a Patiala House court following a petition by Husain.

Husain faces criminal prosecution for allegedly painting Bharat Mata (Mother India) in an obscene manner.

He had approached the apex court pleading that he was in an advanced age of 91 years and it was not physically possible for him to go to Haridwar to attend the court hearings.

The apex court had earlier transferred two other similar cases, involving allegedly obscene paintings of Bharat Mata and Hindu goddesses, to the Patiala House courts from Bhopal and Indore.

With the transfer of the new case, the court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate would be hearing a total of four complaints against the noted painter.

A medical practitioner, Ram Pratap Singh of Apollo Hospitals, also had sought Husain’s prosecution in the Patiala House courts for hurting religious sentiments by allegedly painting "nude or scantily-clad pictures of Hindu goddess Sita, Draupadi and also Bharat Mata".

Reference:  http://content.msn.co.in/News/National/NationalIANS_050907_1820.htm

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