M.F. Husain.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

A Delhi court on Wednesday (January 22, 2025) reserved the judgment on whether to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the owners of Delhi Art Gallery (DAG) for displaying ‘offensive’ paintings made by artist M.F. Husain.

Judicial Magistrate (JM-I class) Sahil Monga of Patiala House Court reserved the order on a plea filed by Delhi-based advocate Amita Sachdeva who claimed that the artworks by Hussain were depicting Hindu deities with nude figures.

According to the complainant, when she visited the DAG last December, she photographed the ‘offensive’ paintings. She also approached the police to lodge a formal complaint despite which no FIR was filed and the paintings were removed during her subsequent visit. The gallery officials denied the display of the said artworks.

The lawyer had sought an FIR under Section 299 of the BNS (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) to be registered against the DAG owners.

Counsel representing Ms. Sachdev argued that Husain might be the greatest artist in the world, but this does not give him any right to insult Hindu deities.

The court on Monday (January 20, 2025) ordered the Delhi Police to seize the pictures in question.