Home Santa Banta jokes: the intersection between humor, religion and the law
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Santa Banta jokes: the intersection between humor, religion and the law

  • Shivangi Gangwar

    Shivangi Gangwar is an Associate Professor at Jindal Global Law School, O. P. Jindal Global University, India. She completed her B.A.LL.B. (Honours) from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. Thereafter she pursued an LL.M. at the University of Chicago where she opted for comparative and interdisciplinary courses. At JGLS she also serves as an Assistant Editor on the Jindal Global Law Review editorial board. Her research interests include comparative constitutional law, and law and economics.

     ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: August 2, 2022
HUMOR
From the journal HUMOR Volume 35 Issue 3

Abstract

Santa and Banta jokes are the mainstay of most Indian childhoods. Santa and Banta were used as stage names by the comedian duo Gurprit and Prabhpreet Singh but somewhere along the line, they turned into fictional characters in their own right and acquired pan-Indian fame. The defining characteristics of Santa and Banta jokes are that both are simple-minded middle-aged men belonging to the Sikh religious community. Most Indians consider these jokes lame but many Sikhs find them to be offensive and demeaning, not because of what is said but because of who says it. In 2015, Harvinder Chowdhury, a Sikh lawyer, petitioned the Supreme Court of India to ban the online dissemination of the Santa and Banta jokes. The Court admitted the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition and constituted a committee to look into this matter, before ultimately dismissing the petition in 2017, without judging it on merits. This paper will examine this specific attempt of the Indian judiciary to regulate humor, within the broader context of freedom to religion and free speech. It will study the arguments raised in the PIL, the recommendations of the committee, and the observations of the Court. No study has been done of the relationship between law and humor in India. This paper will examine whether the Court missed an opportunity to contribute to the virtually non-existent humor jurisprudence in India. Last year a children’s book The Art of Tying a Pug was withdrawn by its publishers because of the backlash it faced from the Sikh community on the wordplay in its title, which referred to the dog breed and the turban (pag or pagdi) worn by Sikhs. This incident is illustrative of the chilling effect on humor publications and the current publishers’ strategy of withdrawing the material deemed offensive instead of submitting it for judicial determination. Could a decision on merits in the Santa and Banta jokes case have laid down guidelines on what was acceptable and what was offensive? What would such guidelines be? Is the laying down of guidelines even possible, or desirable, given the unique set of issues presented by humor for the law? Ethnic jokes, in the form of minority-majority community jokes, are found in cultures all over the world. This paper will also undertake a comparative analysis of ethnic jokes in an attempt to answer these questions.

Keywords: constitution of India; ethnic jokes; freedom of religion; freedom of speech and expression; humor jurisprudence
Corresponding author: Shivangi Gangwar, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India, E-mail:

About the author

Shivangi Gangwar

Shivangi Gangwar is an Associate Professor at Jindal Global Law School, O. P. Jindal Global University, India. She completed her B.A.LL.B. (Honours) from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. Thereafter she pursued an LL.M. at the University of Chicago where she opted for comparative and interdisciplinary courses. At JGLS she also serves as an Assistant Editor on the Jindal Global Law Review editorial board. Her research interests include comparative constitutional law, and law and economics.

Acknowledgment

I thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful and insightful comments. I am grateful for the excellent research assistance provided by Kartik Agarwal. Thanks are also due to Akshita Grover, Devanshi Khurana, and Akshay Purandare for their help.

References

Adcock, Cassie S. 2016. Violence, passion, and the law: A brief history of section 295A and its antecedents. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 84(2). 337–351. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfw027.Search in Google Scholar

Anand, Utkarsh. 2016. Sikh groups to stop Sardar jokes. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/sikh-groups-to-stop-sardar-jokes-2910449/ (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Baxi, Upendra. 1985. Taking suffering seriously: Social action litigation in the Supreme Court of India. Third World Legal Studies 4(6). 107–132.Search in Google Scholar

Bhardwaj, Deeksha. 2019. Why BJP worker Priyanka Sharma’s arrest over Mamata meme is unlikely to hold up on court. The Print. https://theprint.in/india/governance/why-bjp-worker-priyanka-sharmas-arrest-over-mamata-meme-is-unlikely-to-hold-up-in-court/234855/ (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Bhatia, Gautam. 2015. Why Subramanian Swamy versus Union of India is arguably the most significant free speech case in years. Scroll.in. https://scroll.in/article/740037/why-subramanian-swamy-vs-union-of-india-is-arguably-the-most-significant-free-speech-case-in-years (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Bhuwania, Anuj. 2017. Courting the people: Public interest litigation in post-emergency India (South Asia in the Social Sciences). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781316551745Search in Google Scholar

Blom, Amélie & Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal (eds.). 2020. Emotions, mobilisations and South Asian politics (Exploring the Political in South Asia). London & New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780429288708Search in Google Scholar

Capelotti, João Paulo. 2018. How judges handle humour cases in Brazilian courts: Recent case studies. In Jessica Milner Davis & Sharyn Roach Anleu (eds.), Judges, judging and humour, 243–280. London: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-3-319-76738-3_8Search in Google Scholar

Carroll, Noël. 2020. I’m only kidding: On racist and ethnic jokes. Southern Journal of Philosophy 58(4). 534–546. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjp.12391.Search in Google Scholar

Chakrabarti, Paromita. 2019. Article of faith. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/the-art-of-tying-a-pug-natasha-sharma-priya-kuriyan-6130967/ (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Change.org. 2015a. Ban websites that defame and insult the Sikh community! #BanSikhJokes. https://www.change.org/p/supreme-court-of-india-ban-websites-that-defame-and-insult-the-sikh-community-bansikhjokes (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Change.org. 2015b. #BanSikhJokes – PIL in the Supreme Court by Harvinder Chowdhury. https://www.change.org/p/supreme-court-bansikhjokes-pil-in-the-supreme-court-by-harvinder-chowdhury (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Cox, Neville. 2017. Blasphemy and defamation of religion following Charlie Hebdo. In Jeroen Temperman & András Koltay (eds.), Blasphemy and freedom of expression: Comparative, theoretical and historical reflections after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, 53–86. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108242189.004Search in Google Scholar

Davies, Christie. 1982. Ethnic jokes, moral values, and social boundaries. British Journal of Sociology 33(3). 383–403. https://doi.org/10.2307/589483.Search in Google Scholar

Davies, Christie. 1987. Language, identity and ethnic jokes about stupidity. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 65. 39–52. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-1987-6505.Search in Google Scholar

Deviah, Machimanda. 2016. Here’s why women are barred from Sabarimala; it is not because they are ‘unclean.’ Firstpost. https://www.firstpost.com/india/why-women-are-barred-from-sabarimala-its-not-because-they-are-unclean-2583694.html (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Gaekwad, Manish. 2016. Culturally insensitive or harmless fun? The ‘Santa Banta’ debate. Scroll.in. https://scroll.in/reel/805274/culturally-insensitive-or-harmless-fun-the-santa-banta-debate (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Ghose, Debobrat. 2016. Petitioners seeking ban on Sardar jokes submit a 800-page response to SC. Firstpost. https://www.firstpost.com/india/petitioners-seeking-ban-on-sardar-jokes-submit-an-800-page-response-to-sc-3038212.html (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Gil, Guilhem. 2017. Blasphemy in French law: From the Chevalier de la Barre to Charlie Hebdo. In Jeroen Temperman & András Koltay (eds.), Blasphemy and freedom of expression: Comparative, theoretical and historical reflections after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, 25–52. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108242189.003Search in Google Scholar

Gini, Al. 2015. Dirty jokes, tasteless jokes, ethnic jokes. Florida Philosophical Review 15(1). 50–65.Search in Google Scholar

Godioli, Alberto. 2020. Cartoon controversies at the European court of human rights: Towards forensic humor studies. Open Library of Humanities 6(1). 22. https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.571.Search in Google Scholar

Gupta, Virag. 2017. SC on Sikh jokes – laughing out of despair. LiveLaw.in. https://www.livelaw.in/sc-sikh-jokes-laughing-despair/ (accessed 31 May 2022), https://olh.openlibhums.org/article/id/4629/ (accessed 27 April 2022).Search in Google Scholar

India Today. 2009. 1978-Kissa Kursi Ka: Celluloid chutpah. https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20091228-1978-kissa-kursi-ka-celluloid-chutzpah-741608-2009-12-24 (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

India Today. 2015. Comedians Santa Banta change their name to Shugli Jugli. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/punjab/story/comedians-santa-banta-change-their-name-to-shugli-jugli-273048-2015-11-17 (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Kirby, Michael. 2018. Foreword. In Jessica Milner Davis & Sharyn Roach Anleu (eds.), Judges, judging and humour, v–xi. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Search in Google Scholar

Kohli, Manek. 2015. I am a proud Sikh, and I love Santa-Banta jokes. The News Minute. https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/i-am-proud-sikh-and-i-love-santa-banta-jokes-35697 (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Kuchroo, Sakshi. 2016. The ‘original’ Santa-Banta speak out. Governance Now. https://www.governancenow.com/views/interview/the-original-santabanta-speak- (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Little, Laura E. 2018. Judicial regulation of humour in the United States. In Jessica Milner Davis & Sharyn Roach Anleu (eds.), Judges, judging and humour, 281–312. London: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-3-319-76738-3_9Search in Google Scholar

LiveLaw. 2015. SC agrees to hear PIL seeking ban on websites spreading ‘Sardar Jokes’. https://www.livelaw.in/sc-agrees-to-hear-pil-seeking-ban-on-websites-spreading-sardar-jokes/?infinitescroll=1 (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

LiveLaw. 2016. SC askes Sikh Community to suggest steps to curb Sardar Jokes. https://www.livelaw.in/sc-asks-sikh-community-to-suggest-steps-to-curb-sardar-jokes/?infinitescroll=1 (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

McDonald, Peter D. 2016. Libellous literature: Elton John and the perils of close reading. In Ralf Grüttemeier (ed.), Literary trials: Exceptio artis and theories of literature in court, 175–189. London & New York: Bloomsbury Academic.10.5040/9781501303203.ch-010Search in Google Scholar

Moazzam, Iram. 2014. So you think Pathan jokes are funny? Read this! The Express Tribune. https://tribune.com.pk/article/20822/so-you-think-pathan-jokes-are-funny-read-this (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

NDTV. 2012. Mamata cartoon row: Defamation charges dropped against Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra. https://www.ndtv.com/kolkata-news/mamata-cartoon-row-defamation-charges-dropped-against-professor-ambikesh-mahapatra-501631 (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

NDTV. 2015a. AIB roast organisers, bollywood personalities booked for criminal conspiracy. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/aib-roast-organisers-bollywood-personalities-booked-for-criminal-conspiracy-739136 (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

NDTV. 2015b. Jadavpur professor arrested for circulating Mamata cartoons to be compensated, orders court. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/jadavpur-professor-arrested-for-circulating-mamata-cartoons-to-be-compensated-orders-court-745503 (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Newslaundry. 2016. I agree with Harvinder Kaur Chowdhury. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY_okmwkSMc (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Oberoi, Harjot. 1994. The construction of religious boundaries: Culture, identity and diversity in the Sikh tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Patnaik, Ananga Kumar (ed.). 2018 [1960]. Durga Das Basu’s shorter constitution of India, 15th edn. Gurgaon: LexisNexis.Search in Google Scholar

Rautray, Samanwaya. 2017. Supreme Court not to regulate Santa-Banta jokes on social media. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/supreme-court-not-to-regulate-santa-banta-jokes-on-social-media/articleshow/57028900.cms?from=mdr (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Saper, Bernard. 1993. Since when is Jewish humor not anti-semitic? In Avner Ziv & Anat Zajdman (eds.), Semites and stereotypes: Characteristics of Jewish humor (Contributions in Ethnic Studies 31), 71–86. Connecticut & London: Greenwood Press.Search in Google Scholar

Schutz, Charles E. 1989. The sociability of ethnic jokes. HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 2(2). 165–177. https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.1989.2.2.165.Search in Google Scholar

Seervai, Hormasji Maneckji. 2015 [1967]. Constitutional law of India, 4th edn. New Delhi: Universal Law Publishing.Search in Google Scholar

Singh, Gurharpal. 2000. Ethnic conflict in India: A case-study of Punjab. London: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9780333981771Search in Google Scholar

Singh, I. P. 2015. Ban on Sardar jokes: Comedians Santa-Banta exit. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ban-on-Sardar-Jokes-Comedians-Santa-Banta-exit/articleshow/49795463.cms (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Singh, Kashmir. 2014. Shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee: An overview. In Pashaura Singh & Louis E. Fenech (eds.), The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies, 328–339. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199699308.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

Singh, Khushwant. 2000. Big fat joke book. New Delhi: Penguin.Search in Google Scholar

Singh, Khushwant. 2011. A history of the Sikhs volume 1: 1469–1838. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Singh, Preeti. 2015. I’m a Sikh and I laugh the loudest at Santa Banta jokes, why ask for a ban? The Wire. https://thewire.in/culture/we-sikhs-laugh-the-loudest-at-santa-banta-jokes-why-ask-for-a-ban (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

The Director of Public Prosecutions. 2006. Decision on possible criminal proceedings in the case of Jyllands-Posten’s article “The Face of Muhammed”, File No. RA-2006-41-0151. https://web.archive.org/web/20121105173519/http://www.rigsadvokaten.dk/media/bilag/afgorelse_engelsk.pdf (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

The Hindu. 2016. Supreme Court to hear plea to ban Sardar jokes. https://www.thehindu.com/news/supreme-court-to-hear-sgpc-plea-to-ban-sardar-jokes/article8365291.ece (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Indian Express. 2020a. SC clarifies on Sabarimala review pleas: Can refer to larger bench. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/sc-clarifies-on-sabarimala-review-pleas-can-refer-to-larger-bench-6405622/ (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Indian Express. 2020b. Explained: What it means for Sikhs to be counted as separate ethnic group in US. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/us-census-2020-sikh-population-ethnic-group-6220200/ (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

The Indian Express. 2021. Munawar Faruqui released in bail after late-night call from top court judge. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/comedian-munawar-faruqui-bail-plea-7177669/ (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

The Print. 2019. SC directs Priyanka Sharma to apologise to Mamata Banerjee over morphed image, given bail. https://theprint.in/judiciary/sc-directs-priyanka-sharma-to-apologise-to-mamata-banerjee-over-morphed-image-given-bail/235251/ (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

The Quint. 2018. AIB roast obscenity case: HC continues relief to B-town celebs. https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/celebrities/aib-roast-obscenity-case-hc-continues-relief-to-ranveer-deepika-karan-johar-arjun-kapoor#read-more (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

The Times of India. 2014. SC rings alarm bells for chronic litigants. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-rings-alarm-bells-for-chronic-litigants/articleshow/40724199.cms (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

The Wire. 2021a. Amidst flurry of reactions, police complaint, Vir Das issues note on viral monologue. https://thewire.in/the-arts/amidst-flurry-of-reactions-police-complaint-vir-das-issues-note-on-viral-monologue (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

The Wire. 2021b. Insults to religion without deliberate intention not offence under section 295A IPC: Tripura HC. https://thewire.in/law/insults-to-religion-without-deliberate-intention-not-offence-under-section-295a-ipc-tripura-hc (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar

The Wire. 2021c. Police say no evidence against Munawar Faruqui, yet press for bail plea rejection. https://thewire.in/rights/police-say-no-evidence-against-munawar-faruqui-yet-press-for-bail-plea-rejection (accessed 31 May 2022).Search in Google Scholar
Received: 2021-09-22
Accepted: 2022-05-20
Published Online: 2022-08-02
Published in Print: 2022-08-26

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Introduction
  3. The difficulty of judging jests: introduction
  4. Full Length Articles
  5. Different systems, similar challenges: humor and free speech in the United States and Europe
  6. Santa Banta jokes: the intersection between humor, religion and the law
  7. Cartoons on trial: a case study integrating discursive, legal and empirical perspectives
  8. The (Ab)use of freedom of speech and the 1788 Ismaël-controversy: the legal limitations and affordances of a parodic periodical in the Dutch Republic
  9. “This does not interest the court!”: the 1966 Soviet Satire Trial and its persistent legacy
  10. Imagining interdisciplinary dialogue in the European Court of Justice’s Deckmyn decision: conceptual challenges when law and technology regulate parody
  11. Satire and the law: an interview with German lawyer Gabriele Rittig
  12. Afterword: on words and disciplines in studying humor
https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2021-0099
Keywords for this article
constitution of India; ethnic jokes; freedom of religion; freedom of speech and expression; humor jurisprudence

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Introduction
  3. The difficulty of judging jests: introduction
  4. Full Length Articles
  5. Different systems, similar challenges: humor and free speech in the United States and Europe
  6. Santa Banta jokes: the intersection between humor, religion and the law
  7. Cartoons on trial: a case study integrating discursive, legal and empirical perspectives
  8. The (Ab)use of freedom of speech and the 1788 Ismaël-controversy: the legal limitations and affordances of a parodic periodical in the Dutch Republic
  9. “This does not interest the court!”: the 1966 Soviet Satire Trial and its persistent legacy
  10. Imagining interdisciplinary dialogue in the European Court of Justice’s Deckmyn decision: conceptual challenges when law and technology regulate parody
  11. Satire and the law: an interview with German lawyer Gabriele Rittig
  12. Afterword: on words and disciplines in studying humor
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 21.11.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/humor-2021-0099/pdf
Scroll to top button