These actors were charged under section 295A before Kiku Sharda

The arrest of stand-up comedian Kiku Sharda in Mumbai over allegations of hurting religious sentiments has attracted strong reactions from across the social spectrum. The TV artist has been booked under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (outraging religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief) for mimicking self-styled spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

However, Sharda is not the first actor to be booked under Section 295A. Bollywood biggies like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan have also run into trouble with the same legal clause. Here’s a list of five actors who were accused of hurting religious sentiments in the past:

Salman Khan

Salman Khan is controversy’s favourite child. (HT)

In September 2014, Salman Khan was accused of insulting Muslim sentiments when a model walked the ramp with an Arabic word inscribed on her T-shirt at a fashion show organised by the Bollywood star’s NGO Being Human. This irked Mumbai resident Mohammad Asim Mohammad Arif who filed a complaint against Salman.

Shah Rukh Khan

SRK was recently involved in a heated intolerance debate as well. (AP)

In 2012, the Badshah of Bollywood found himself in a legal tangle when a case was filed against him in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district over a song in the film Student Of The Year. Apparently, the song “Radha on the dance floor” didn’t go down well with some locals and they filed a complaint against SRK and his wife Gauri who co-produced the film.

Aamir Khan

Aamir Khan in a still from Rajkumar Hirani’s PK. (YouTube)

Aamir went through a lot of trouble during the making of the 2014 hit film PK. The film was mostly shot in Delhi and that phase wasn’t a cakewalk for the actor. During the shooting of one of the sequences, an actor was supposed to dress up like Lord Shiva and pull a rickshaw on which two burqa-clad women were sitting. Some Old Delhi residents objected to this and a complaint was lodged at the local police station. Aamir Khan was also a party in this case.

Sunny Deol

Mohalla Assi was based on a Hindi novel Kashi Ka Assi. (YouTube)

Deol, who is known for playing an ultra patriot in films like Border and Gadar, found himself on the wrong side of the law when he was accused of maligning the image of Varanasi and making fun of popular Hindu beliefs. The trailer of his film, Mohalla Assi, was laden with cusswords which angered Bihar lawyer Sudhir Kumar Ojha who brought it up in court. Deol, along with the film’s director, Chandra Prakash Dwivedi, was made a party in the case.

Akshay Kumar

OMG was based on a Gujarati play. (YouTube)

The 2012 film Oh My God brought Kumar a lot of appreciation, but also generated some unwanted problems. An FIR was filed in Rajasthan’s Ajmer city against Kumar and the film’s director, Umesh Shukla, for “hurting the religious sentiments” of Hindus. The complainants were not happy with the way matters of faith were depicted in the film.

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First Published: Jan 13, 2016 18:10 IST