CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana high court Thursday refused to interfere in the FIR against rapper Honey Singh for singing vulgar songs.

The court, however, said the rapper could resort to appropriate remedy if there was any.

The court also said it was for state governments to decide “whether they should set up some authority for screening the songs before they are released.

The Public Interest Litigation filed by NGO Human Empowerment League of Punjab (HELP) seeking directions to “set up an effective mechanism to curb the menace of lewd songs” was also disposed off.
Punjabi rapper Honey Singh had earlier claimed on Wednesday before court that he has never sung ‘Main Hun Balatkari’ and that he was a victim of mistaken identity, while favouring the setting up of Censor Board for songs.

Appearing before Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh on Wednesday, the singer filed a written submission to answer the petition against him by the NGO called HELP for promoting obscenity in public life. Honey Singh denied singing the obscene song and claimed that he was a victim of mistaken identity.

He told the court that he strongly condemned the lyrics of the song ‘Main Hoon Balatkari’, while stating that some mischievous person had impersonated him and sung the song and uploaded it to YouTube. He also stated in his reply before the Court that he himself drew the attention of YouTube authorities by filing complaints with them in May and August last year, but lamented that YouTube was ‘reluctant to solve the problem.’

As demanded by the NGO in its petition, Honey Singh said that he too favoured the setting up a censor board for screening songs before they are sung in public.