Today SC will hear the plea of Journalist Amish Devgan who was seeking to quash the multiple FIR registered against him for hurting religious sentiments by referring to Sufi saint Moinuddin Chisti in derogatory terms. A Vacation Bench led by Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari will hear this plea.
On his June 15 news show, Devgan had used the term ‘Lootera Chisti’ (‘Chisti the robber’), inviting furious reactions from the Muslim community throughout the country.
The news anchor made the comment during a debate on a PIL about the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act on his show ‘Aar Par’. He had allegedly called Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, better known as Khwaja Gareeb Nawaz, an “attacker” and a “looter”.
The petition prays for an interim stay on the investigation against Devgan, and for the FIRs filed against him to be quashed, as it is a “small issue”. He also mentioned in his plea that it would stifle freedom of speech and expression of journalists, as the reference to Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti as a “lootera” was an “inadvertent error” committed during a heated debate segment.
In regards to this, Devgan had also tweeted and issued an apology stating that he had mistakenly referred to ‘Khilji’ as ‘Chishti’, and said that he also has visited the Dargah for the saint’s blessings.
