State Government failed to present case in HC

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Principal of the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, S Ajayakumar, who was a member of the jury that decided to confer the Raja Ravi Varma Award for 2007 on M F Husain feels that failure of bureaucrats who dealt with the High Court case in this regard eventually resulted in the stay on the award presentation. Ajayakumar told ‘Express’ that the State Government or the then Education Minister M A Baby, who took a political decision to select Husain for the award, could not be blamed. However, the officials followed the same procedures as for ordinary cases. The case was handed over to a government pleader who did not know the complexities relating to the case, he said. Ajayakumar said that no steps were taken to vacate the stay imposed in 2007. Now, the Government should at least present the award posthumously, he said.Ajayakumar pointed out that the Cultural Affairs Department did not seek legal opinion from the Law Department. The department had also failed to seek technical opinion from academicians or the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi as there were technical aspects in the case, apart from legal aspects.He pointed out that a Delhi High Court verdict had dismissed criminal proceedings against Husain on May 8, 2008, in a case of hurting public sentiments through his paintings. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said in his verdict that the allegations were baseless.” A painter has his own perspective of looking at things and it cannot be the basis of initiating criminal proceedings against him,’’ Kaul said in his order.Complaints against Husain filed at three places were clubbed together on the directive of the Supreme Court in September 2007. Husain had approached the apex court pleading that it was physically impossible for him to go to Haridwar to attend court hearings. The Supreme Court had earlier transferred two other similar cases involving the allegedly obscene paintings done by Husain on Bharat Mata and Hindu goddesses, from Bhopal and Indore, to the Patiala House court .The Raja Ravi Varma Award ceremony could not be held as per schedule following the stay imposed by the High Court.In the public interest litigation (PIL) filed before the High Court, petitioner Ravi Varma from Thammanam had pointed out that Husain had defamed Ravi Varma. Ajayakumar said that this argument was not true. Husain, along with a group of modernist painters, had only signed a statement on the relevance of holding an exhibition of Ravi Varma paintings in Delhi. The statement did not have anything against the quality of the paintings of Ravi Varma, he said.Another point raised by the petitioner was that Husain had abused the right to freedom of expression envisioned in the Constitution by depicting Bharat Mata and Hindu gods and goddesses in a vulgar and beastly manner in total disregard for Hindu religious sentiments. Ajayakumar said that the truth was that Husain had not named the paintings. It was the person who bought the painting that gave the name ‘Bharat Mata’ as it had the image of national flag and a woman, he said."In case of Hindu goddesses, the paintings were done in 1980. It became controversial only in 2006. This was following the spreading of distorted versions of the painting through the internet. This was achieved by adding some strokes to the paintings,’’ he said."Husain’s paintings definitely had nudity, but it did not have vulgarity. There was no attempt by the Government pleader who argued the case to bring such issues to the notice of the High Court,’’ he said.