Sixteen years after a joke on the TV show ‘Comedy Circus Ka Jadoo’ sparked controversy, the Bombay High Court has quashed the FIR filed against the actor-host. Shekhar Suman and comedian Bharti Singh, providing some much-awaited relief. The verdict came on May 1. For those who didn’t know, an FIR was filed against Shekhar Suman and Bharti, chanting “Ya Allah! Rasgulla! Dahi Bhalla!”The court said, “The mere mention of food in a comic act cannot amount to an insult against religion. Something more is needed. There must be material to show that the words were chosen as a weapon of offence,” the court said.Meanwhile, now Shekhar Suman has reacted to the court verdict and after 16 years the case has got relief. He told Hindustan Times, “I was not aware of it. It was Bharti who said something innocently, without any religious overtones. I was not even a part of it, but I was unnecessarily dragged into the matter to get publicity.”He added: “I am very grateful to the honorable judge who trashed the case. It was unexpected. I was forgotten for a long time. They did not send me a notice or ask me to appear on my stand. Thank God for that. Imagine how some people waste the precious time of the court and disturb the innocent citizens. Justice prevails.”The case dates back to 2010, when a complaint was filed over allegedly objectionable remarks made on a Sony TV program. Along with Suman and Singh, the channel and a scriptwriter were also named in the FIR. The complaint filed by a representative of Raza Akademi alleged that Bharti made a joke with reference to a Quranic verse, which Suman repeated in the episode.
