The comedian remained in Indore jail for 35 days before he was released on Feb 6 (FILE)
The Madhya Pradesh police have been waiting since late January this year for the state government's nod to file a charge sheet against comedian Munawar Faruqui in a case registered against him in Indore for allegedly hurting sentiments of Hindus during a stand-up act, an official said on Monday.
Mr Faruqui and four others were arrested on January 1 following a complaint by a BJP MLA's son that objectionable remarks about Hindu deities and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were passed during a comedy show organised at a cafe in Indore on New Year's Day.
The comedian remained in the Indore's Central Jail for 35 days before he was released on February 6 after getting interim bail from the Supreme Court.
"We had sent a letter to the state government on January 29 this year for permission to present the charge sheet against Faruqui and four others in court. We haven't got approval yet," Tukoganj police station in-charge Kamlesh Sharma told PTI when asked about the latest status of the comedian's case.
After getting the state government's nod, a charge sheet under section 295-A (outraging religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) will be presented against Mr Faruqui and others in the court as the police investigation in the matter has been completed, Mr Sharma added.
As per provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), it is necessary to take permission from the state government before a charge sheet is presented in the court in a case registered under IPC section 295-A, he explained.
Mr Faruqui was recently denied permission by the Karnataka police for a show in Bengaluru over law and order considerations as some right-wing outfits objected.
Indore police officials said their counterparts from Karnataka had obtained information from them about the case registered here.
"We shared the details of the case registered against Faruqui in Indore with the Bengaluru police," he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)