Madurai: Police investigation into the case against cartoonist G. Balamurgan alias Bala was on Wednesday stayed by the Madurai bench of the Madras high court. Bala (26) of Chennai was charged with defaming the Chief Minister, the Tirunelveli collector and police commissioner of for posting a cartoon on social media, representing them in an ‘obscene manner’ in connection with the mass suicide of a family over a usury problem at the Tirunelveli collectorate on October 23.
Based on a complaint from Tirunelveli collector Sandeep Nanduri, the district crime branch police booked Bala under section 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory) of the IPC, and section 67 (punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT Act and later arrested him at his residence on November 5. Bala released on bail by the judicial magistrate court I, Tirunelveli, filed a petition in the Madurai bench seeking to quash the FIR and uphold freedom of expression. “Every time, an artist portrays something different, something which is unpopular, it may be accompanied by discomfort and unpleasantness but that in itself cannot be a ground to curb artistic freedom and quickly go on to label it as obscene,” said the petitioner’s advocate S. Vanchinathan.
“The right to dissent is the hallmark of a democracy. In real democracy the dissenter must feel at home and ought not to be nervously looking over his shoulder fearing captivity or bodily harm or economic and social sanctions for his unconventional or critical views,” said Vanchinathan quoting from the judgement passed in the Husain case. (Delhi High Court in renowned painter M. F. Husain vs Raj Kumar Pandey case)
Stating that the criminal justice system should not be used as a mere tool in the hands of unscrupulous masters, the advocate said that magistrates must scrutinise each case to prevent vexatious and frivolous cases from being filed.
The magistrate should taking into account the recent amendment to section 202 of the said code and postpone the issue of process against the accused if he is residing beyond the area in which he exercises jurisdiction and also examine the nature of allegations made in the complaint with documentary evidence, said the advocate.
After examining the petition, Justice S. S. Sundar passed an interim injunction against police investigation and directed police to file their counter on November 23.
