In a relief to actor Ranveer Singh, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday directed police not to take any coercive steps against him in a case related to allegedly mocking a local deity at last year’s International Film Festival of India (IFFI) event held in Goa when he mimicked actor Rishab Shetty’s performance in Kantara: Chapter 1 on stage.
Hearing his petition seeking quashing of an FIR for allegedly mocking the deity of coastal Karnataka, the bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna gave the direction to the Bengaluru police.
The bench also reprimanded the actor for his behaviour and said hurting religious sentiments will not be tolerated.
“An act of mimicking Shetty would definitely hurt. You must be responsible in your statements. You can't be loose-tongued at all. You may be Ranveer Singh; you may be anybody. Whether there is mens rea or not, we will examine.,” said the judge. He also pointed out the significant influence that public figures hold. “You being an actor have influence on so many people. When you have that, you should be responsible. You may mimic; you may do anything. You have no right to hurt anyone's religious sentiments…your apology will take back the words? I may forget, you may forget, but the internet never forgets.”
During the IFFI Awards event in Goa, Ranveer imitated actor-director Rishab Shetty's role showing him under the 'Avesham' of Goddess Chavundi in Kantara: Chapter 1. He even called Chavundi Goddess as a ghost. Alleging that this act of the actor has hurt his religious sentiments, a lawyer approached a city court to book a case against the actor.
On the court's direction the city police registered an FIR against the Dhurandhar lead.
