An Indian court ordered the confiscation of “offensive” paintings

A court in the capital of India, Delhi, ordered the confiscation of two “offensive” paintings by one of the most famous Indian artists, M. F. Hussein.

A court on Monday allowed the police to seize the artworks after a complaint was filed that the paintings displayed at an art gallery and depicting two Hindu deities “hurt religious sentiments”.

Hussain, who died in 2011 at the age of 95, often faced backlash for depicting naked Hindu gods in his paintings.

The Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), which held the exhibition, said it was “not a party to the litigation and is seeking legal advice”.

The paintings were part of an exhibition titled Husain: The Timeless Modernist, which featured more than 100 works at the DAG from October 26 to December 14.

The complainant, lawyer Amita Sachdeva, told X that on December 4 she took photographs of the “offensive paintings” displayed at the DAG and, after looking into previous complaints against the late artist, filed a police report five days later.

On December 10, Ms. Sachdeva said she visited the gallery with an investigating officer, only to find that the paintings had been removed. She claimed that the gallery representatives claimed that they had never exhibited the paintings.

The BBC has contacted DAG for comment.

The paintings, which Ms Sachdeva shared online, depicted the Hindu gods Ganesha and Hanuman next to nude female figures. She also alleged that the Delhi Police did not file a report.

She later petitioned the court to preserve the gallery’s CCTV footage from the period the paintings were on display, according to media reports.

On Monday, a Patiala court judge in Delhi said the police had accessed the footage and submitted their report. According to the request, the judge added that the exhibition was held in a private space and was intended solely to showcase the artist’s original works.

In a statement, the art gallery said they were “reviewing the situation” and “trying to monitor developments.”

Maqbool Fida Hussain was one of India’s greatest artists and was called the “Picasso of India”, but his art was often controversial in the country. His works sell for millions of dollars.

His career was marked by controversy when he was accused of obscenity and condemned by violent Hindus for painting a nude goddess.

In 2006, Hussain publicly apologized for his painting Mother India. It depicted a naked woman kneeling on the ground, forming the shape of a map of India. In the same year, he left the country and lived in exile in London until his death.

In 2008 Supreme Court of India refused to open a criminal case against Husseinsaying that his paintings are not obscene but that nudity is common in Indian iconography and history.

The court then rejected an appeal against a high court order that quashed criminal cases against Hussain in the cities of Bhopal, Indore and Rajkot, condemning the rise of a “new puritanism” in India.

The court also rejected calls to summon Hussain, who was then in exile, and asked to explain his paintings, which were accused of offending religious sentiments and violating national integrity.

“There are so many such stories, photos and publications. Will you file a case against everyone? What about temple structures? Hussain’s work is art. If you don’t want to see it, don’t watch it. There are so many such forms of art in temple structures,” the apex court said.

Many believe that there is a growing wave of illiberalism against artistic expression in India.

In October, the Bombay High Court – scolded the customs for confiscation of works of art of famous artists F. N. Souza and Akbar Padamsi on the grounds that they were “indecent material”.

The court ruled that not every painting of nudity or overt sexuality qualifies as obscene and ordered the release of seven confiscated works of art.

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