Expressionist

The Supreme Court has restrained trial courts from issuing nonbailable warrants (NBWs) at the first instance on complaints by the “moral police” and when the accused can be presented in the court by a mere summon. Justice Bhandari, writing the judgment for the bench, issued a three-point set of guidelines to lower courts for issue of nonbailable warrants. [ Link] In many cases, including Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere controversy, nonbailable warrants were issued on the very first hearing by the...

It is the season of “I too moral police.” After the Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere incident, debate on dress code and filing of suit on kissing scene in Dhoom 2, its time for Kangana Ranaut and her latest campaign for a denim company to share the limelight, err bad light! [ Link] A section of student leaders in Vadodara, led by commerce faculty’s general-secretary Krunal Patel of the MS University took objections over Ranaut wearing bodyhugging jeans and a bikini top while clinging on another...

When few students of Mumbai's KJ Somaiya College of Engineering woke up to take their exams on October 23, they had no idea that they will be forced to leave the examination midway for not dressing up according to the whims and fancies of the principal. [ Link] The students were asked to leave the college premises and barred from sitting for the exam. They were wearing t-shirts and polo shirts, which, according to the college principal, violated the dress code laid down by him. College...

Mallika Sherawat gets as many headlines as she grabs eyeballs. Now her latest controversy is a resurrection of the one over her dance on New Year’s eve in JW Marriott Hotel in Mumbai. Narendra Tiwari, senior lawyer and president of Baroda Bar Association (BBA) has lodged a complaint against Sherawat and the hotel owner under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act in Vadodra court. He has accused her of publicly making wilful exposure of her person by words and gestures. The court hearing is...

The Hyderabad blues seem to be ruling the students of an engineering college. While many colleges around the country are imposing dress codes of salwar kameez and formal shirts on students, Aurora Engineering College in Hyderabad has gone a step ahead and made blue jeans and white shirt its new uniform. [ Link] The uniform has gathered mixed reaction from students. While many are taking it as an oppotunarity to flaunt what's in vogue, others are finding it a culture shock. ''I never wore jeans...

Moral policing hit a new low when a girl was forcibly paraded on the streets by the policemen of Muzaffarnagar after she was found in a hotel room with a male friend. [ Link] According to the police, someone tipped them off that blue films were being shot in a particular room of the Hotel Raj Mahal. When they stormed the hotel, a young couple was found in an "objectionable state" in the room. They were arrested along with the manager of the hotel who could not produce any records of the check-in...

Orkut, which may have become a synonym for pornography and defamation online can now be undisputedly awarded the most controversial site. So it seems, for all the wrong reasons. The latest in the crackdown of defamation of historical and public figures on the site is the posting of offensive picture and derogatory remarks on Maratha warrior king Shivaji by few young men on the social networking site. A 27-year-old IT professional, Laxman Kailas was arrested along with three mothers after the...

An exhibition of paintings in Bhopal in September invited was deemed obscene by netas and babus. It is unfortunate that politicians and bureaucrats in Madhya Pradesh are the ones deciding what should constitute art. [ Link] The bone of contention was a painting put up at 'Young Call', an exhibition of paintings by artists of the Indira Gandhi Art and Music University, Khairagarh, at Bhopal's Bharat Bhawan. The state's culture minister found a painting obscene. Bharat Bhawan Secretary Rameshwar...

Students at KJ Somaya College of Engineering in Mumbai were October 23 not allowed to take a test because they came dressed in T shirts, says a CNN-IBN report. The college management, however, contends that the issue has been blown out of proportion. "Some students were suspended and these reports are false," says Principal, K J Somaya College, Raj Kishore Prasad. [ Link] Some recent college-related incidents: In September 2005, Avinash Nahar, a student at a Chennai college was harassed for...

Maharashtra's deputy chief minister RR Patil is the chief moral policeman of his state. After Mumbai's bar dancers, he now wants to book cheerleaders at the recent India-Australia T20 match for flouting obscenity laws. Gyrating cheerleaders in tiny tank tops is a trademark of the new T20 format in cricket and they were at their bootylicious best at the Australia-India match at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. And they have been noticed by Patil for all the wrong reasons. ;) He wants to conduct an...