Supreme Court India: The Supreme Court, hearing a petition seeking a complete ban over the jokes on Sikhs and Sardars said it cannot create a mechanism to curb them.
“It is very difficult to lay down guidelines on a community. Who will control whom? How can we prevent people from cracking jokes? What would be mode, methods and measures for it? We aren’t getting into the concept of jokes and sense of humour,” said a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra.
Such jokes are against the community, says petitioner
The petition was filed by Sikh Lawer Harvinder Chowdhary, claiming that such jokes are against the community; therefore the court should order the governments to ensure such jokes are taken off website and filters are put in place to prevent more such jokes on the internet.
After several hearings for more than a year, a different bench led by ex-Chief Justice of India T S Thakur had agreed to consider the request and sought responses from Sikh bodies on framing certain guidelines. However, after the retirement of Justice Thakur when Justice Misra heard a plea, he observed that it is virtually impossible for the court to issue guidelines on this matter.
Supreme Court India: Court said it can’t come to any judgment in the instant PIL
How can we issue moral guidelines by setting standards of behaviour? Can we say you don’t crack a joke? Then the question would be what would mean by a joke? So what can be the guidelines and how would it be enforced?” said the bench.
The next date of hearing will be on March 27 when the court may pass the order in favour of the PIL. The court said that it did not want to deliver and judgment in the instant PIL.
It added that the court did not want to deliver any judgment in the instant PIL and it may pass some order on March 27, the next date of hearing.