MF Husain Row: Court Orders Seizure Of 'Offensive' Paintings Of Hindu Deities; Order On FIR Likely Today

A Delhi court is likely to decide today whether or not to direct an FIR after a plea alleged that two paintings by Padma Vibhushan recipient and ce🅠lebrated artist late Maqbool Fida Husain displayed at the DAG, formerly Delhi Art Gallery, hurt religious sentiments.

On January 20, a court ordered the seizure of two paintings. The 🌳court ruling came following a complaint from Delhi High Court advocate A♛mita Sachdeva who termed the paintings of Hindu deities 'offensive'.

What did Sachdeva say?

During the hearing on Wednesday, complainant and advocate Amita Sachdeva, said the most reve❀red entities of Sanatan Dh𝄹arma, Hanuman and Ganesh were insulted in Husain's paintings.

"This is obscenity. Depicted most revered deities in obscene manner a deliberate and malicious insult. Husain may b💛e the greatest artist in the world, but he has no right to insult my deities," she argued.

I🦩t has been reported that in December, Advocate Sachdeva asked the court to preserve the CCTV footage from the art gallery for December 4 and December 6-10 when the exhibition displayed Husa꧋in’s paintings.

The Delhi court on December 18 directed the production and preservation of the footage. On January 4, Judicial Magistrate First Class Sahil Monga of the Patiala Ho🌳use Courts said that a report had been filed by the investigating officer stating that the CCTV footage from the said dates had 🧸been preserved and filed along with the report.

“On 04.12.2024, I clicked photos of offensive paintings displayed at DAG World at 2ဣ2A, Windsor Place, Connaught Place, New Delhi, and filed a complaint on 09.12.2024 at Parliament Street police station after researching past FIRs against M F Husain. However, during a visit with the IO on 10.12.2024, the paintings were removed and falsely claimed they were never displayed", said Sachd꧅eva.

What did the Delhi court say?

According to the report by The Indian Express, directing the investigating officer to seize the paintings in question, Monga said, “At this stage, an application… has been moved by the complainant for direction to♊ the IO (Investigating Officer) to seize the painting in question. In light of the facts and circumstances mentioned in the said application, the said application is allowed and the IO is directed to seize the said painting and file a report on 22.01.2025.”

“As per the ATR, the I🅘O has already seized CCTV footage and the NVR (Network Video Recor🅷der) of Delhi Art Gallery. It is further stated in the ATR that a list of paintings was provided by Delhi Art Gallery in which the paintings in question are mentioned at Serial No. 6 and 10. It is further stated in the inquiry report that the exhibition was held in a private space and the said paintings were only to display the original work of authors/artists”, Monga further added.

Responding to the development, the DAG in an official statement said, “Pending an inquiry into a few select works of M F Husain at a recent exh🍬ibition, DAG is reviewing the situation and seeking counsel. We are not party to any court proceedings🅷 so far and are trying to follow the developments. We will come back to you as soon as we have an update on the issues at hand.”