The Madhya Pradesh High Court has sought the response of actor Kareena Kapoor Khan on a petition seeking registration of a case against her for using the word ‘Bible’ in the title of her book on pregnancy.
The order was passed on Thursday by the single-judge Bench of Justice Gurpal Singh Ahluwalia on a petition filed by Advocate Christopher Anthony.
The petitioner moved the High Court against the February 2022 order of an Additional Sessions Court, which dismissed his plea seeking registration of a case against the actor.
The single-judge Bench directed the respondents to pay the process fee by RAD mode within seven working days.
The petitioner submitted that a First Information Report (FIR) should be registered against Kareena Kapoor Khan for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the Christian community by using the word ‘Bible’ in the title of her book – “Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Pregnancy Bible”.
Other respondents to the plea include Amazon Online Shopping, Juggernaut Books and the co-author of the book.
The petitioner had initially filed a complaint with a local police station in Jabalpur alleging that Khan’s act hurt the sentiments of the Christian Community as the ‘holy book Bible’ cannot be compared with the actor’s pregnancy.
However, the police refused to lodge a case, after which the Advocate moved a Magistrate court and filed a private complaint seeking a similar relief.
The Magistrate rejected the plea on the grounds that the complainant failed to establish how the use of the word ‘Bible’ hurt the sentiments of the Christian community.
Anthony then filed a petition before the Additional Sessions Court, which too refused to grant any relief.
This led to the plea before the High Court.
The State was represented by Panel Lawyer Dilip Parihar.