Justice R S Mohite of the Bombay high court observed that healthy criticism of any religion was acceptable but malicious comments were not.
The court was hearing an anticipatory bail application filed by Maulana Shaikh Sayed Mehraj Rabbani (42), a Muslim preacher who was seeking protection from arrest after he was booked for promoting enmity between communities through his alleged hate speeches.
Rabbani, originally from Uttar Pradesh, is a follower of the Ahle Hadis sect and works as a translator with the Islamic Guidance Centre in Saudi Arabia. The complaint was filed in January 2010 by Ghatkopar resident Siraj Ahmed following a speech by Rabbani in the area.
According to Ahmed, Rabbani made derogatory statements about the Barelvi Sunni sect to which he belonged. There were also CDs of speeches which allegedly abused Khwaja Garib Nawaz of Ajmer Sharif and did not spare Hindu gods and goddesses either, the complaint alleged.
The police had registered a first information report against Rabbani under Section 295-A, which is punishable with a jail term of up to three years.
The court, while scheduling the matter for further hearing on April 7, asked Rabbani to file an undertaking that he would not hold any meeting or make any speech. If this undertaking was filed, the court said, the police would not arrest him till further orders. The HC has also restrained Rabbani from leaving the city.