Kailash Kher High court case on Babam Bam song

Bombay HC Division Bench says singer didn’t have malicious intent when he sang Babam Bam.

The Bombay High Court has quashed a complaint against singer Kailash Kher, who was accused of hurting religious sentiments with his song “Babam Bam,” which portrays Lord Shiva. In its ruling, the court emphasized that there was no malicious intent on Kher’s part and that the song was a celebration of Lord Shiva’s attributes, not an attempt to offend religious sentiments.

A division bench comprising Justices Bharati Danger and SC Chandak ruled that Kher’s song did not deliberately or maliciously hurt anyone’s religious feelings. The complaint was filed by one Narinder Makkar in Ludhiana, who claimed that the video of the song depicted vulgar imagery, including scantily dressed women and people kissing, which he argued was offensive to Lord Shiva’s worshipers.

The court disagreed with the complainant’s interpretation of the video, stating that the song itself, with its lyrics praising Lord Shiva, did not violate any religious principles. It further pointed out that the mere displeasure of a specific group of people, especially when a song is not intended to insult, should not automatically lead to charges of outraging religious sentiments.

The bench also referred to the writings of author AG Noorani, who had spoken about the intolerance of dissent in Indian society. It quoted Noorani’s assertion that “intolerance of dissent from the orthodoxy of the day has been the bane of Indian society for centuries.” The court stressed that a free society should distinguish itself by accepting the right to dissent, rather than merely tolerating it.

The court clarified that to invoke Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with outraging religious feelings with deliberate and malicious intent, there must be clear evidence of such intent. In this case, the only accusation against Kher was that he appeared in the video dancing with scantily dressed women, which the complainant deemed vulgar. However, the court found no malicious intent behind Kher’s performance.

Kailash Kher had approached the Bombay High Court in 2014 after the complaint was filed. At that time, the court had granted interim relief, preventing any coercive action against him. Kher, through his lawyer Ashok Sarogi, argued that he was only the singer and not responsible for the video’s choreography, which was handled by Sony Music Entertainment and cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification.

PTI