Vishal Dadlani, Tehseen Poonawalla Fined Rs 10 Lakh For Insulting Jain Monk Tarun Sagar 

Punjab and Haryana High Court has disposed of an FIR against singer and composer Vishal Dadlani and political activist Tehseen Poonawalla for allegedly hurting religious sentiments with their tweets against the late Jain monk Tarun Sagar, reports Indian Express.

In August 2018, an FIR was registered against Dadlani and Poonawalla in Haryana’s Ambala district after they questioned the authorities for inviting Sagar to address Haryana’s legislative assembly.

While Dadlani had later apologized to the monk, Poonawalla told the court that he did not regret the tweets.

Nonetheless, the court has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh each for the injustice caused to the Jain community, even though it has ruled that no charge under the law is made out in the case.

The bench noted that it would be appropriate to impose a cost of Rs 10 lakh on each to ensure that in future, they may not mock at any head of a religious sect, just to gain publicity on social media like Twitter.

Justice Sangwan has also directed that Poonawalla should deposit Rs five lakh with the Tarun Kranti Manch Trust, Delhi, and deposit the other half of the fine with the Poor Patient’s Fund of PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, Dadlani has been ordered to pay Rs 5 lakh to the Shri Digamber Jain Mandir Trust, Chandigarh, and the rest to Punjab and Haryana High Court Advocates’ Welfare Fund.

The amount is to deposited within four months from the bygone Monday (29 April 2019) when the judgment was signed.