By IANS
New Delhi : Complainants from across India filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking compensation for expenses to come to the capital and fight their legal cases against noted artist M.F. Husain after the apex court ordered shifting of all cases against him to Delhi.
They moved their respective state courts against Husain for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus with some of his controversial paintings.
The apex court last month transferred to Delhi all criminal cases pending against Husain.
Ajay Kumar Narula from Indore, Raj Kumar Pandey from Bhopal, Illyas Khan from Rajkot and others urged the Delhi High Court to provide monetary relief to them as they cannot afford to visit Delhi frequently to pursue the case.
“When the court is giving relief to the accused, then we the complainants also deserve some relief in terms of bearing our expenses of travelling and lodging in Delhi,” said the petition.
The petition is likely to be heard soon.
Last month, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan directed that a criminal case against Husain would be shifted from a court in Pandharpur in Maharashtra to the Patiala House Courts here, where two similar cases against him were pending.
Senior advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, then appearing for the 92-year-old painter, submitted that six criminal cases were pending against him in various courts across the country and it would be appropriate that a general order be passed that, in future, any complaint against his artistic work will be transferred to Delhi.
In all the cases, Husain, currently living abroad in self-exile, has been accused of committing various offences under the Indian Penal Code for hurting the religious sentiments, promoting enmity between different religious groups and promoting obscene material.