Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) A K Kuhar directed the 92-year-old painter, who is believed to have left the country as part of a self-imposed exile, to appear before it on March 29. The court also pulled up the police for tardy probe in a related matter.

"Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, the investigating officer (IO) is directed to expedite the investigation as it has already been given sufficient time," the ACMM said in a recent order, directing the police official to produce the final investigation report by March 29.

A doctor, Ram Pratap Singh, had filed a complaint in 2006 accusing Husain of hurting religious sentiments of people by allegedly painting “nude or scantily clad pictures” of Bharat Mata and other goddesses. The pictures of the paintings had reportedly appeared in a magazine and a national daily.

The other case in which the court also issued a notice to complainant advocate Arvind Shrivastava, the painter has been accused of outraging religious sentiments, promoting enmity between different devout groups. He has also been accused of selling obscene material and disturbing national integrity, thereby committing offences under several sections of the IPC.