A Delhi court on Monday (January 21, 2025) ordered the seizure of paintings of Hindu deities made by Padma awardee M.F. Husain, displayed in the Delhi Art Gallery. The paintings showed Hindu gods Hanuman and Ganesha holding nude female characters in hands and on the lap.
The orders came on the complaint filed by Delhi High Court advocate Amita Sachdeva, who demanded the removal of the “offensive” paintings.
Issued by Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Sahil Monga of the Patiala House Court, the order stated that the application is allowed in the light of the facts and circumstances mentioned. “IO is directed to seize the said painting and file a report on 22.01.2025,” the court order reads.
The complainant, in her social media post, had said that she had clicked photos of “offensive” paintings displayed at Delhi Art Gallery situated at 22A, Windsor Place, Connaught Place on December 4, 2024 and filed a complaint on December 9 at Parliament Street police station.
“However, during a visit with the IO to the Delhi Art Gallery on December 10, 2024, the paintings were removed and falsely claimed they were never displayed. The Delhi Police has not yet registered an FIR against the Delhi Art Gallery and its Directors for exhibiting nude paintings of Hindu deities. It’s unclear if the police have preserved the CCTV footage from 4th to 10th December, as requested in my application, to determine who removed the paintings and why,” the complainant said in her social media post on X.
Following this, she filed an application under Sections 175(3), 223, and 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Act, seeking the registration of an FIR and the preservation of CCTV footage of the Delhi Art Gallery for the period between December 4 and 10 last year.
The police, during the hearing, submitted in the court that the investigating officer (IO) has already seized CCTV footage and the network video recorder (NVR) of Delhi Art Gallery.
“It is further stated in the ATR that a list of paintings was provided by Delhi Art Gallery in which the paintings in question are mentioned at Serial No. 6 and 10. It is further stated in the inquiry report that the exhibition was held in a private space and the said paintings were only to display the original work of authors/artists,” the judge further said in his order.
