Claiming they had not received the Supreme Court’s order, the jail authorities had delayed his release. However, after intervention from a Supreme Court judge, Munawar was released late Saturday night.
Stand-up comic Munawar Faruqui’s release was reportedly delayed by jail authorities for several hours saying that they had not received official communication to let him out of jail.
Late on Saturday night, a day after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a case for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, Munawar Faruqui walked out of Indore central jail. Claiming they had not received the Supreme Court’s order, the jail authorities had delayed his release. However, after intervention from a Supreme Court judge, Munawar was released late Saturday night.
Jail authorities refused to release Faruqui, saying that they had not received official communication from the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) to release him, the Indian Express reported earlier in the day. However, a Supreme Court judge made a late-night call to the CJM, and eventually, Munawar was released on Saturday night around 11 pm, an official told the newspaper.
On Friday, the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice RF Nariman granted interim bail to the comedian, also staying his arrest in the case registered in UP against him. While granting the interim bail, the Supreme Court also issued notice to the Madhya Pradesh government.
On January 2, Munawar Faruqui and his aide Nalin Yadav were held for allegedly hurting religious sentiments during their show. A complaint was registered against the comic by local BJP MLA’s son accusing Faruqui of passing indecent remarks about Hindu deities and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a show. A local court had then sent them to judicial custody.
In his bail plea before the Supreme Court, the comedian’s lawyer had requested the FIR to be cancelled. His lawyer also argued that Munawar Faruqui was arrested without a magistrate’s order or a warrant, which is stated in Section 41 of the Criminal code. The Supreme Court agreed with his lawyer that procedure was not followed.
Faruqui was denied bail thrice before this.
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