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High Court Quashes FIR Over Yaariyan 2 Sikh Song Visuals
A song in the film Yaariyan 2 showed a clean-shaven actor wearing a Sri Sahib.
A complainant said this went against Sikh customs and hurt religious feelings.
The filmmakers said the portrayal was an accidental mistake, not an attempt to insult Sikhism.
They removed the visuals and apologised.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court examined the complaint.
The court said artistic work should not automatically be treated as a deliberate religious insult.
It found no evidence of malicious intent.
The court also said one person’s complaint cannot represent the feelings of an entire community.
It therefore cancelled the FIR against the song’s director.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed an FIR linked to a Yaariyan 2 song.
The complaint alleged that a clean-shaven actor wearing a Sri Sahib hurt Sikh religious feelings.
The court said the portrayal reflected creative liberty and lacked deliberate or malicious intent.
It held that an ordinary, reasonable person would not consider the visuals grossly offensive or provocative.
The filmmakers had removed the visuals, apologised, and acknowledged the portrayal as an inadvertent mistake.
- Who
- The complainant, the film’s director, producer and actor, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and Deputy Attorney General Hardeep Singh Wadhwa.
- What
- The court quashed an FIR alleging that a Yaariyan 2 song insulted Sikh religious beliefs.
- Where
- The Punjab and Haryana High Court.
- When
- The ruling was issued on September 7; the article does not specify the year.
- Why
- The court found no deliberate or malicious intention to outrage religious feelings and regarded the portrayal as creative expression or an inadvertent mistake.
Court and filmmakers
Complainant and prosecution
Intent behind the portrayal
Court and filmmakers
The filmmakers argued that the portrayal resulted from a lack of knowledge or an inadvertent mistake and fell within artistic expression, without intent to insult Sikh beliefs.
Complainant and prosecution
The complainant and prosecution argued that showing a clean-shaven actor wearing a Sri Sahib without a turban violated Sikh customs and hurt religious feelings.
Whether prosecution should continue
Court and filmmakers
The filmmakers argued that the FIR was unsustainable, particularly because another FIR allegedly concerned the same incident and allegations.
Complainant and prosecution
The Deputy Attorney General argued that the FIR should not be quashed at the investigation stage because specific allegations of religious insult had been made.
Community sentiment
Court and filmmakers
The court held that an individual grievance cannot represent the sentiments of the entire Sikh community and that the visuals were not grossly offensive to a reasonable person.
Complainant and prosecution
The complainant alleged that the depiction hurt his feelings and those of members of the Sikh community.
Key facts
- Film
- Yaariyan 2
- Complaint
- A clean-shaven actor was shown wearing a Sri Sahib against Sikh customs.
- Court
- Punjab and Haryana High Court
- Judge
- Justice Shalini Singh Nagpal
- Ruling
- The FIR and related proceedings were quashed.
- Filmmakers’ response
- The visuals were removed and an apology was issued.
- Prosecution position
- The depiction hurt religious feelings and the FIR should not be quashed while investigation remained pending.
Quotes
Justice Shalini Singh Nagpal
Punjab and Haryana High Court judge who issued the ruling
“Picturisation of a song showing a non-Amritdhari Sikh wearing a ‘Sri Sahib/Kirpan’ cannot be termed as an insult to the Sikh religion. The song picturised in a movie is an expression of creative liberty, artistic instinct and the inadvertent portrayal of Sri Sikh Sahib, one of the 5 religious ‘Kakaars’ of the Sikh religion, cannot be construed as a deliberate, malicious act intended to hurt the religious feelings of the complainant or other members of the religious community.”
indianexpress.com
“cannot portray the sentiments of the entire community”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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