Naked Bharatmata – painted by anti-hindu M. F. Hussain
The Supreme Court Tuesday suspended a Haridwar court’s order to Mumbai Police to seize noted painter M.F. Husain’s properties in the metropolis.
New Delhi: A bench of Justice B.N. Agrawal and P.P. Naolekar also stayed other related proceedings initiated by the court and issued notice to the Haridwar-based complainant in the case against Husain on a petition by the artist seeking transfer of the matter to Delhi.
The court of Special Judicial Magistrate K.S. Shukla in Haridwar had ordered Mumbai Police to attach the painter’s first floor flat in Jolly Maker-III at Cuffe Parade after he repeatedly failed to respond to summons to appear before it.
The last summon to Husain had sought his presence in the court April 13.
The complainant, lawyer Arvind Shrivastava, had filed a case against Husain in the Haridwar district court in March 2006 for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments with his paintings ‘Bharatmata’ and ‘Krishna’ which reportedly depicted the gods in semi-nude condition.
The case was transferred nine months later to the court of Magistrate Shukla who issued a bailable warrant against the painter Jan 2 after he failed to respond to the summons.
Acting on the Haridwar court’s orders, police began Sunday the process of seizing the painter’s house in Mumbai, which turned out to be his son’s.
Husain nowadays mostly lives abroad, shuttling between London and Dubai.
