Court won’t protect Vishal Dadlani from arrest

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to grant protection from arrest to singer and music composer Vishal Dadlani in a criminal case registered for his tweets against Jain monk Tarun Sagar’s appearance in the Haryana legislative Assembly.

A Bench of Justices V. Gopala Gowda and A.K. Goel dismissed his writ petition and asked him to approach the Punjab and Haryana high court for the exhaustive reliefs, including quashing of FIR and protection from arrest that he had sought. The Haryana government had invited the Jain monk, who appeared naked to deliver a lecture “Kadve Vachan” in the state Assembly on August 26 and the petitioner tweeted on the incident and later tendered an apology. Advocate Ms Karuna Nundy, appearing for Mr Dadlani, submitted to the court that the renowned composer of national eminence is apprehending arrest as FIRs are being filed against him in every state. There is political vendetta, she said, and sought protection from arrest, saying if the FIR is not quashed, he could be arrested by the police. The counsel also urged that protection from arrest could at least be granted to Mr Dadlani till they moved the high court. Justice Gowda told the counsel “we can’t give you any protection from arrest. You approach the high court.” The bench then dismissed it with liberty to move the high court.