Free expression

The Supreme Court has exempted former Star India CEO Rathikant Basu from personal appearance before a trial court looking into criminal proceedings initiated against him for allegedly showing obscene movies on its channel more than a decade ago. A bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, however, has refused to stay the proceedings. The criminal complaint was filed under Sections 239 and 294 of the Indian Penal code and Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986 for aiding and...

You can find such juvenile statements only in the RSS mouthpiece The Organiser. And that too by former HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi. [ Link] Former Union HRD Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi viewed that sex education would transform the student-teacher relation into that of a man and a woman and it appears the government wants to import the western culture of sexual relations between students and teachers into India. He said introduction of sex education is what multinationals did to create...

Sharmila Tagore, our chief film censor, said in an interview with Reuters that state censorship was more transparent and preferable to street censorship enforced by angry mobs or political groups. Here are five recent films that did not have a smooth ride with India's censors — both official and self-appointed: Mumbai Aamchich was denied a certificate this year because the film board said it endorsed the idea that the city of Mumbai belongs only to people from Maharashtra and everybody else...

It's Pune again. But this time, it is the turn of the Islamists.A group of youths tore down posters of Hindi film Awarapan and carried out demonstrations at Victory theatre in Pune Camp, where the movie was screened on Saturday afternoon, claiming that the film has scenes hurting religious sentiments. Following the incident, the police provided security to 13 theatres in the city, where the film is being screened in this Maharashtra city. The culprits this time out were members of the Indian...

The suspended in-charge dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, Shivaji Panikkar, was attacked by a group of unidentified persons near a school Friday in Ahmedabad where he had gone to inaugurate an exhibition. CNN-IBN reports: Pannikar, who was suspended for lending support to the student who was arrested over an alleged obscene painting, was attacked by unidentified persons in Ahmedabad on Friday. He and his driver were roughed up by a group of 20 people outside the gates of St Xavier...

Oh, its happened again. This time in Pune. Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Yuva Morcha (BJYM) barged into a popular restaurant in Pune's Kalyaninagar on Saturday night to protest against the “pub culture”. The activists, carrying party flags, entered Soho’s hall where music was being played, shouted slogans and demanded that the restaurant be closed for running an illegal dance floor cum pub and for violating the 11.30 pm deadline. “The rich culture of the city is being sullied by the...

Twelve years ago, a New Delhi couple were booked for indulging in an "obscene act" in a public place. The male of the two died six years ago. And now the female concerned has finally been let off by the court. A case was registered against Seema and one Atma Prakash after they were found allegedly indulging in the obscene act at a DDA park in Uttam Nagar under police station Janakpuri here on June 17, 1995. A court acquitted Seema of the charges June 26, noting contradictions in statements of...

This one is hard to believe — two schools in Mumbai have issued notices asking girls and boys studying there not to touch or hug members of the opposite sex. Did you just say OMG? CNN-IBN reports [ Link]: Vibgyor School and Jamnabai Nursery School have specifically forbidden boys and girls from touching or hugging members of the opposite sex in the school premises. School authorities say the rule will “discipline” students, who are easily exposed to and influenced by violence and vulgarity on TV...

Now you can be arrested for the way you dance. That's what happened to 41 youngsters, including 11 girls, at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra recently. They were arrested for dancing together in an "obscene" manner. If this thought itself was not obscene, the Press Trust of India (PTI) creed virtually agreed with the contention. Read it in full: [ Link] About 41 people including 11 young girls, who were dancing together in an obscene manner at Kala Kendra have been arrested, police said on Thursday...

The Delhi High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against former Miss India Nafisa Ali, for allegedly buying controversial paintings of MF Husain. A complaint was filed against Nafisa by one Raj Kumar Pandey for allegedly hurting public sentiments by purchasing a painting of Husain, in which ‘Bharat Mata’ (Mother India) was portrayed in an “obscene manner”. Details from the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) creed on Friday: [ Link] Nafisa, however, contended that she had not purchased the...