Court ruling clears return of celebrated Indian painter

Posted 09 10 2008 12:46PM

NEW DELHI (AFP) - India's most celebrated artist M.F. Husain looked set Tuesday to return from voluntary exile after the Supreme Court found no grounds to prosecute him for obscenity and offending religious feelings.

Husain, 92, left India in 2006 after right-wing groups threatened him over his nude paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses and filed a host of criminal cases.

He was charged, among other things, with obscenity and hurting the feelings of a religious community -- both offences which carry jail sentences.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to initiate criminal proceedings against the artist, and rejected the argument that he was using his age and reputation to flout obscenity laws.

In its ruling, the court noted that the nudity portrayed by Husain had a long history in Indian culture and religious iconography.

"There are many such pictures, paintings and sculptures and some of them are in temples also," it said.

The row surrounding Husain, a Muslim, had focused on a 2004 painting of a nude woman whose shape mimics the contours of the map of India and which was sold under the title "Bharat Mata," or Mother India.

The work was denounced by right-wing Hindu groups, one of which offered 11.5 million dollars for Husain's murder.

Monday's judgement upheld a High Court ruling in May that cleared the painter of obscenity charges.

Speaking from Dubai, where he has lived in self-imposed exile, Husain hailed the court's decision and said he was looking forward to going home.

"At last they have understood the dignity of Indian contemporary art," he told the Times of India. "This is not a victory for me only, but one for the Indian contemporary art movement."

Dubbed the "Picasso of India" by Forbes magazine, Husain came to prominence in the late 1940s when he sought to encourage an Indian avant-garde.

He went on to become one of the most highly regarded painters in India. Earlier this year one of his pieces was auctioned by Christie's in New York for 1.6 million dollars -- a world record for contemporary Indian art.