Noted painter M.F. Husain, who was living in self-imposed exile due to reported threat from some right-wing Hindu outfits over his controversial paintings of the Hindu gods and goddesses, faced a large number of cases across the country.
Though in some cases the Supreme Court has given him relief by clubbing the trial in a common court at Patiala House complex, but such relief had come only in those cases where trial judges had set the law in motion by issuing notices, summons or even bailable warrants to him.
But dozens of other cases were still pending in courts in different states according to his long-time trial court counsel Satish Tamta. With his death, all these cases would be abated (closed) as per the provisions of the law. Most of the cases were identical in nature and had almost the same pattern and grounds. In the complaints filed in the courts by individual persons under various sections of Indian Penal Code, he was accused of “hurting the religious sentiments of people, promoting enmity between different religious groups and promoting obscene material through his work.”
On February 4, 2008, the Supreme Court had passed an order for transfer of some of the cases to Patiala House courts while senior advocate Harish Salve had given the details of at least six other cases pending.