NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court agreed to hear a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) filed by lawyer-cum-petitioner Harvinder Kaur Chaudhary seeking a ban on websites spreading jokes portraying the 'Sardar' community as people of "low intellect, stupid and foolish".
"This is an important issue. We will hear it after 8 weeks," a two-judge bench of the top court, led by Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan, said.
Chowdhury argued before the apex court that through such jokes, websites portray Sikhs as "unintelligent", "foolish" and "naïve", making them an easy target for ridicule and racial abuse. Chaudhary further said that when she was in the High Court, she faced this.
"There are two interim applications. Women are being ridiculed for their attire. The children are being bullied by schoolmates. We suffer from the drop of thought. The jokes affect the human mind. A major problem is virtual bullying," she told the apex Court.
Justice Viswanathan advised that the children in schools can be sensitised. Chaudhary replied that it was tried but there was no success.
Narrating an incident, she told that a boy killed himself due to torture and bullying for being a Sikh.
"He was teased and was subjected to extreme bullying. His head was flushed in the toilet and his hair was cut. He later killed himself," she told the top court.
She further told the bench that women came to her, saying, "We are under Sikh attire, wearing turban and white suits. We are being ridiculed. Our grievances are not there in the suggestions given to the court."
After hearing the PIL, the bench noted that the petitioner has consolidated suggestions and filed a compilation.
Seeking direction, Chaudhary said that she wanted such websites posting derogatory jokes to be prosecuted under laws that carry a prison term of six months to five years. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, have termed it a legitimate demand.