Court Dismisses Obscenity Cases Against Indian Artist

NEW DELHI—The Delhi high court has dismissed three cases against one of India's most famous contemporary artists, Maqbool Fida Husain, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports. Husain, who is 92 and lives in Dubai for fear of being arrested in India, was charged with obscenity, after he offended Hindus by painting Bharat Mata, or Mother India, nude.

Right-wing Hindu groups protested against the painting in 2006, bringing at least seven cases against the artist. Husain later apologized for the work and said he would withdraw it from a charity auction.

"A painter has his own perspective of looking at things, and it cannot be the basis of initiating criminal proceedings against him," said Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul in his order, according to the IANS news agency.

In the 1990s, Husain painted a series of nude Hindu goddesses that also provoked controversy and led to several court cases.