Connect with us
Thursday,09-October-2025
Breaking News

Entertainment

HC quashes complaint against Kailash Kher for hurting religious feelings; says no malicious intent

Published

on

Mumbai: Intolerance and dissent from the orthodoxy have been a bane of Indian society, the Bombay High Court said, quoting author A G Noorani, while quashing a complaint against singer Kailash Kher for allegedly hurting religious sentiments with a song on Lord Shiva.

A division bench of Justices Bharati Danger and S C Chandak said there was no deliberate or malicious intent on Kher’s part, who had only sung the song ‘Babam Bam’, to hurt anyone’s religious sentiments or feelings.

A copy of the order of March 4 was made available on Thursday,

The complaint was filed by one Narinder Makkar before a local court in Ludhiana seeking registration of a case against the singer under Indian Penal Code sections 295A and 298, concerning outraging religious feelings with deliberate and malicious intent.

The complainant claimed to be a Shiva worshiper and said Kher’s song ‘Babam Bam’ on Lord Shiva depicted a vulgar video showing scantily dressed women and people kissing.

The high court while quashing the complaint filed before the Ilaka judicial magistrate in Ludhiana said the lyrics of the song sung by Kher is nothing but praise of Lord Shiva and the attributes of his mighty character.

“Every action which may be to the dislike of a class of people may not necessarily lead to outraging religious sentiments,” the court said.

The bench quoted author A G Noorani and said, “Intolerance of dissent from the orthodoxy of the day has been the bane of Indian society for centuries.

But it is precisely in the ready acceptance of the right to dissent as distinct from its mere tolerance, that a free society distinguishes itself.”

In the order, the bench said that to attract the offence under IPC section 295A, there has to be a deliberate attempt by the person to outrage someone’s religious feelings.

The court said the only accusation against Kher is that he is dancing with some scantily dressed girls in the video which according to the complainant is vulgar and hence hurt his religious feelings and emotions.

The offence is not made out against Kher as there is no deliberate and malicious intention on his part, who is just singing the song, HC said.

Kher had moved HC in 2014 when the complaint was lodged in the Ludhiana court in Punjab. At that time, the HC had in an interim relief said no coercive action should be taken against the singer.

In his plea filed through advocate Ashok Sarogi, Kher said he was only the singer of the song and that the video was choreographed by another company through Sony Music Entertainment.

Sarogi had argued that the video of the song was released only after it was granted clearance by the Central Board of Film Certification.

Entertainment

Delhi High Court issues summons to Netflix, SRK’s company in Sameer Wankhede’s defamation suit

Published

on

Mumbai, Oct 8: The Delhi High Court has issued summons to Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., and Netflix owned by Shah Rukh Khan, with regards to the civil defamation suit filed by IRS officer, Sameer Wankhede. The suit was instituted on 8th October 2025.

Sameer has alleged defamation in a malicious content published and circulated through the web series ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’ produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, which has gravely tarnished the reputation, dignity, and public image of Sameer and his family.

The issuance of summons reflects the Court’s prima facie satisfaction that the allegations warrant judicial examination. The next date of hearing has been fixed, and the proceedings will continue in accordance with law. In the earlier hearing the Court had questioned Wankhede as to how the suit was maintainable in Delhi and asked him to amend his plaint disclosing appropriate reasons.

The lawsuit names Red Chillies Entertainment Private Limited, Netflix, X Corp (formerly Twitter), Google LLC, Meta Platforms, RPG Lifestyle Media Private Limited and John Doe as defendants.

Sameer Wankhede has claimed that the webseries has deliberately biased and defamatory content against him. He also alleged that the Sameer Wankhede and Aryan Khan case is currently pending in the Bombay High Court and a special NDPS court in Mumbai.

He alleged that a character in the web series is shown saying, “Satyamev Jayate” and immediately after that the character is seen making an obscene gesture. It is an insult to the slogan which is part of the national emblem and is an offence punishable under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.

Sameer has sought Rs. 2 crores as damages which will be donated to Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for the treatment of Cancer patients. The suit has been filed seeking permanent and mandatory injunction against the production house and others, against the allegedly “false, malicious, and defamatory video” broadcasted in the series.

It has also been alleged that the content of the series violates various sections of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code as it attempts to hurt national sentiments by using obscene and objectionable content.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Kantara Chapter 1 Box Office Collection Day 4: Rishab Shetty Starrer Performs Exceptionally, Crosses ₹ 200 Crore Mark

Published

on

Rishab Shetty starrer Kantara Chapter 1 has done an exceptional business at the box office during its extended first weekend. The film took a bumper opening of Rs. 61.85 crore (all languages), but on Friday, it showed a drop of around 26% and collected Rs. 45.40 crore (all languages). However, once again on Saturday and Sunday, the movie showed a huge jump.

On its third day, the film collected Rs. 55 crore (all languages), and according to Sacnilk, on its day four, Sunday, Kantara 2 collected approximately Rs. 61.5 crore (all languages). So, during its extended first weekend, Kantara Chapter 1 has minted around Rs. 224.05 crore (all languages), which is an excellent amount.

While Kantara Chapter 1 is originally a Kannada film, it has been dubbed and released in multiple languages, including Hindi. The movie’s Hindi dubbed version has been getting a fantastic response. In fact it is performing better than the original version. In four days, the Hindi version has collected around Rs. 74 crore, which is surely a very good number.

However, now, all eyes are on Monday. It will be interesting to see if the film will pass the Monday test or not. While of course, there will be a drop, we can expect a double-digit number.

Kantara Chapter 1 is reportedly made on a budget of Rs. 125 crore. So, if we compare the budget and the collection, the movie is already a blockbuster.

Reviewer gave 3.5 stars to Kantara Chpater 1, and wrote, “Considering that Kantara A Legend: Chapter 1 is being released on Dussehra, it could just work in the film’s favour in addition to its loyal audience and word of mouth. The flip side, however, is the lack of required publicity and awareness of the film, which could act as a roadblock. Overall, if you want to experience the unfolding of cinema’s magic, this film earns our recommendation!”

Continue Reading

Bollywood

Mumbai: Farhan Akhtar’s Family Driver Misuses Actor’s Cards To Fill His Pockets, Booked For ₹12 Lakh Fraud

Published

on

Mumbai: The police have registered a case against the driver of actor Farhan Akhtar’s mother, Honey Irani, and an employee of a petrol pump near Bandra Lake. The accused driver, Naresh Singh, 35, used Akhtar’s cards to fill fuel in Irani’s cars. However, he merely swiped the cards at the petrol pump and an employee there, Arun Singh, 52, gave him cash after keeping his share for the deal.

On October 1, Irani’s manager filed a complaint with the Bandra police against Singh and the petrol pump employee for allegedly cheating them of Rs 12 lakh. According to the FIR, Irani’s manager, Diya Bhatia, 36, while checking the fuel accounts, discovered that a Maruti car with a diesel capacity of 35t was recorded as having received 621t.

When Bhatia questioned Singh, he gave unsatisfactory answers, claiming he only had one card to fill petrol and diesel. The manager examined the cards’ history. She discovered that Singh had used three cards, all registered under Akhtar’s name. She further found that Singh had purchased vehicle oil for a car that had been sold seven years ago. She arranged a meeting with Trani, during which Singh confessed to cheating them.

Singh revealed that in 2022, he obtained three cards from Akhtar’s former driver, Santosh Kumar. After obtaining the cards, he always filled petrol and diesel at the SV Road petrol pump near Bandra Lake, where he conspired with the petrol pump employee. Singh frequently swiped the cards without filling petrol or diesel and was given cash after a deduction of Rs 1,000- 1500.

A case has been registered under Sections 318 (criminal breach of trust), 418 (cheating), and 3(5) (general provisions) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Continue Reading

Trending