The Supreme Court on Monday said that the petition filed by
the Delhi Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (DGPC) asking to ban jokes related to
the Sikh community – Santa Banta jokes specifically – will be examined seriously.
The DGPC in its plea had claimed that such jokes violate the human rights of members of the Sikh community, according to an article in The Times of India.
Advocate Harvinder Chowdhury, the first petitioner in the public interest litigation, argued in court that Sardar jokes present the Sikh community as people with ‘low intellect’.
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Chowdhury also said that many Sikh people have been forced
to change their names to avoid further humiliation. The bench, headed by Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur, then asked if the surname “Singh”
made one susceptible to ridicule, alluding to his own name in an attempt to lighten the mood in a heated session.
Chowdhury further said that these jokes are akin to “bullying”.
The bench finally directed the registry to list both Chowdhury’s and the DGPC’s
petitions.
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