Interim relief for Shirin Dalvi: Bombay HC extends duration of protection for ex-editor of Urdu mag

Former editor of Urdu daily Avadhnama Shirin Dalvi can breathe easy for a while longer. The Bombay High Court extended interim protection for the former editor to 17 February, this report in Indian Express said. Earlier, on 9 February the High Court, in a ruling, had restricted the Maharashtra police of taking any coercive action against Dalvi till 11 February. The ruling was passed on a petition filed by Dalvi whose magazine’s Mumbai edition had been shut down following publication of the cover of French magazine Charlie Hebdo that featured a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. [caption id=“attachment_2095359” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  A cartoon published by Charlie Hebdo. File image[/caption] Dalvi was arrested from Mumbra in Thane district following a complaint after the cartoon was published on January 17 and released on bail by the concerned court later, a PTI report said. The 46-year-old Dalvi has sought quashing of the cases against her and the clubbing together of all cases filed against her following the publication of the cartoon while she prayed for a direction to prevent the government and police from taking coercive action against her, including arrest. On Thursday, the public prosecutor was supposed to present the government’s stand on the demands of Dalvi but as the prosecutor did not show up the HC extended the interim protection till 17 February. The newspaper had reproduced the cartoon published in French Satirical magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’, the target of an attack by Islamist militants last month. Altogether, five cases have been filed against Dalvi under section 295 A of IPC which deals with outraging religious feelings of people with deliberate and malacious intent. The cases include two in Mumbai, two in Thane and one in Malegaon, prosecutor Shinde informed the court. While seeking interim relief, advocate Desai said the petitioner was not going home as she feared for her life. The Editor pleaded that she was the only woman Editor of an Urdu daily newspaper in India and that due to the events following the publication of the Prophet’s cartoon she is facing threats of physical attacks. Several FIRs have been filed against her and she also had to abandon her home. Dalvi further said that her children had to discontinue their education and were compelled to go incognito along with their mother out of fear of physical harm. The newspaper had published the cartoon on January 17 and the very next day it had apologised for carrying it. On January 19, the newspaper had closed down as it apprehended violence. With inputs from PTI