Delhi court docket orders seizure of M.F. Husain’s work of Hindu deities from Delhi Artwork Gallery

M.F. Husain on the Nationwide Artwork Gallery in Mumbai.
| Picture Credit score: AFP

A Delhi court docket on Monday (January 20, 2025) ordered the seizure of work of Hindu deities made by Padma awardee M.F. Husain, displayed within the Delhi Artwork Gallery. The work confirmed Hindu gods Hanuman and Ganesha holding nude feminine characters in arms and on the lap.

The orders got here on the criticism filed by Delhi Excessive Court docket advocate Amita Sachdeva, who demanded the removing of the “offensive” work.

Issued by Judicial Justice of the Peace (First Class) Sahil Monga of the Patiala Home Court docket, the order acknowledged that the appliance is allowed within the mild of the details and circumstances talked about. “IO is directed to grab the mentioned portray and file a report on 22.01.2025,” the court docket order reads.

The complainant, in her social media put up, had mentioned that she had clicked pictures of “offensive” work displayed at Delhi Artwork Gallery located at 22A, Windsor Place, Connaught Place on December 4, 2024 and filed a criticism on December 9 at Parliament Road police station.

“Nevertheless, throughout a go to with the IO to the Delhi Artwork Gallery on December 10, 2024, the work have been eliminated and falsely claimed they have been by no means displayed. The Delhi Police has not but registered an FIR in opposition to the Delhi Artwork Gallery and its Administrators for exhibiting nude work of Hindu deities. It’s unclear if the police have preserved the CCTV footage from 4th to tenth December, as requested in my utility, to find out who eliminated the work and why,” the complainant mentioned in her social media put up on X.

Following this, she filed an utility underneath Sections 175(3), 223, and 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Act, looking for the registration of an FIR and the preservation of CCTV footage of the Delhi Artwork Gallery for the interval between December 4 and 10 final yr.

The police, throughout the listening to, submitted within the court docket that the investigating officer (IO) has already seized CCTV footage and the community video recorder (NVR) of Delhi Artwork Gallery.

“It’s additional acknowledged within the ATR {that a} record of work was offered by Delhi Artwork Gallery during which the work in query are talked about at Serial No. 6 and 10. It’s additional acknowledged within the inquiry report that the exhibition was held in a non-public area and the mentioned work have been solely to show the unique work of authors/artists,” the decide additional mentioned in his order.