Goa: Bombay HC quashes FIR filed against band Dastaan LIVE booked in 2019 for 'hurting religious sentiments'

An FIR filed against members of the rock band Dastaan LIVE in 2019 in Goa for allegedly hurting religious sentiments has been quashed by the Bombay High Court, calling it a 'frivolous complaint'.

The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court has quashed a 2019 FIR filed against members of a rock band for allegedly hurting religious sentiments while pulling up the Panaji police for registering a 'frivolous complaint' without any justification.The division bench of Justice MS Sonak and Justice MS Jawalkar said that police cannot call citizens to the station and demand apologies and there was no justification whatsoever for arresting the members of the band who had sung the song across the country earlier unhindered.The court noted based on a frivolous complaint, some band members were incarcerated while others were forced to seek anticipatory bail. The court said that police authority was neither justified in registering the FIR nor arresting any of the band members. On December 17, 2019, a band is known as “Dastaan LIVE” which performs live on stage and tours India for its performances, was performing at Serendipity Arts Festival at Campal, Panaji, Goa. As a part of the live performance, the band played their set-list of eight songs which were performed in various cities around India, unhindered, till then. One such song performed was the “Mantra Kavita” by Vaidyanath Misra (widely known as Baba Nagarjun), which was originally composed in the year 1969.