NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court quashed the FIR against actor Priya Prakash Varrier on Friday for her wink in the song “Manikya Malaraya Poovi” from the Malayalam film “Oru Adaar Love”, and said a wink could never be “blasphemous” for Islam or any religion.

Giving Varrier immunity from future persecution, a bench of CJI Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said no FIR or complaint “should be entertained against the actor and the film’s director and producer because of the picturisation of the song”.

The FIR was lodged in Hyderabad on the complaint of one Muqeeth Khan on February 14. He had alleged that the “wink” in the song, a version of a traditional Muslim song from Malabar region of Kerala in circulation since 1978, offended the religious sentiments of his community.

'No intent in song to insult or disturb public order'

Section 295A of the IPC, which was invoked against the actor and others, provides for up to three years’ imprisonment for “anyone who with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class”.

After hearing Varrier’s counsel Haris Beeran and Telangana counsel S Uday Sagar, the bench said the complaint appeared to have been lodged by Khan to gain unwarranted mileage from the FIR. “We do not find Section 295A will be attracted in the present case.

We are inclined to think so for picturisation of the said song solely because of the ‘wink’ will not be tantamount to an insult or attempt to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of a class of citizens,” it said.

“The said song has been on YouTube since February 2018. We do not perceive any calculated tendency to insult or to disturb public order,” it added.

Quoting its rulings involving the film “Padmaavat” and cricketer MS Dhoni, the bench said the apex court had consistently laid emphasis on aggravated form of insult to religion when it was perpetrated with deliberate and malicious intent to outrage religious feelings. “What is urged before us is that picturisation, which involves the actress with a wink, is blasphemous. Barring that, there is no other allegation. Such an allegation, even if it is true, will not come within the ambit and sweep of Section 295A IPC,” the bench said.



In Video: Priya Prakash Varrier can now wink without any worries, as Supreme Court quashes FIRs against the actress