No coercive steps against Raveena, Farah, Bharti: HC

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday directed the State of Punjab not to take "coercive steps" against Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon, filmmaker Farah Khan and comedian Bharti Singh on their plea, seeking quashing of FIRs against them for allegedly hurting religious sentiments during a TV show.

Justice Sudip Ahluwalia issued a notice to the Punjab government in this matter and fixed March 25 as the next date of hearing.

The two Bollywood celebrities, along with the comedian, were booked by the Rupnagar and Ferozepur police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through their remarks during a TV show.

The complaints in this regard were filed by Charan Masih, a resident of Rupnagar, and Vijay Goriyan, a resident of Ferozepur.

Arguing the case for the celebrities, their counsels Abhinav Sood and Rohit Sharma sought the quashing of FIRs, saying these were "illegal and bad in law".

Sood said no offence was made out against them under IPC Section 295-A and said that the allegations against petitioners were "unjustified, false and incorrect".

In their petition, the celebrities had sought the quashing of the FIRs and a stay on the Punjab Police investigation.

Soon after a controversy erupted in December, the petitioners had apologised.