Chandigarh April 25:
The
Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday ordered Punjabi rap singer
Honey Singh to present himself before the court on May 14 to respond to
the allegations levelled against him for singing a song "Main Hoon
Balatkari".
HC
has passed these orders while hearing a public interest litigation
(PIL) filed by NGO HELP of Nawanshar in Punjab. The petitioner NGO had
sought directions to set up some effective mechanism for curbing the
menace of obscene/vulgar/lewd songs from the state of Punjab, such as
setting up a censor board or framing some other policy.
The
petitioner had referred to a news report published in " The Times of
India" for bringing home the fact as to how vulgar/ obscene songs are
being recorded and played by certain Punjabi singers. A specific
reference was made to a song "Main Hoon Balatkari" sung by Honey Singh.
The petitioner stated that all limits of decency are being violated by
such songs. The petitioner referred to provisions of section 294 of
Indian Penal code (IPC), according to which singing of lewd/ obscene
songs at public places is an offence.
It
was further stated that women have the right to protect their dignity,
as a facet of their fundamental right of "right to life", and thee
fundamental right to dignity of a human being cannot be violated under
the garb of "right to freedom of speech". According to the petitioner,
there is a spurt in the quantum of such obscene songs being recorded and
played these days, but the Punjab government has not taken any steps to
curb this growing menace. Earlier on March 1, the Punjab government had
informed the HC that they are in the process of finalizing a policy to
ban vulgar, misogynist and sexist songs in the state.
