'Santa Banta' jokes under Supreme Court scanner

The apex court was hearing a PIL by a woman lawyer Harvinder Chowdhary, who said there were more than 5,000 websites that displayed jokes on Sardars projecting the members of the community in poor light.

The "Santa Banta" jokes on Friday came under the lens of the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear a public interest suit seeking direction to ban websites displaying cracks on Sardars and projecting them in poor light.

"This (Sikh) community is known for a great sense of humour; they also enjoy such jokes. You must have gone through the jokes of Khushwant Singh... This is only an amusement. Why do you want it to be stopped? Prepare your case well. We will hear you," a Bench comprising judges T S Thakur and V Gopala Gowda said.

The apex court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) by a woman lawyer Harvinder Chowdhary, who said there were more than 5,000 websites that displayed jokes on Sardars projecting the members of the community in poor light.

Chowdhury sought a direction to the communications ministry to filter websites targeting the Sikh community, as this was violative of sections 153A and 153B of the Indian Penal Code.

"All the jokes relating to the Sikh community should be stopped. My children are humiliated and feel embarrassed and they don't want to suffix Singh and Kaur to their names," Chowdhury said.

Referring to a recent comment by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a campaign for the Bihar Assembly polls that all Biharis were intelligent people, the lawyer said it reflected as if other communities were not intelligent.

To this, the Bench said: "Don't worry, when he will go to Punjab he will say Sikhs are intelligent."

"A writ of mandamus be issued to the respondent to ban 5,000 websites that spread jokes on Sardars or Sikhs projecting them as unintelligent, stupid, idiot, foolish, naive, inept and not well versed with English... on the ground that they violate fundamental right to life and to live with dignity guaranteed under article 21 of the Constitution," the plea said.