Jay Leno sued by Indian-American Sikh

Los Angeles, Jan 25 (IBNS) US celebrity talk show host Jay Leno has been sued by an Indian-American from the Sikh community for allegedly making disparaging remarks on the Golden Temple in Amritsar by calling it a vacation home.

The lawsuit was filed by Randeep Dhillon of Bakersfield, CA, reported celebrity news website tmz.com.

It says that in "The Tonight Show" Jay was poking fun at the homes of several GOP (nickname for Republican) candidates when he said "Mitt Romney -- a famously wealthy businessman -- spends his summers in a solid gold palace."

"As an illustration, Jay pulled up a photo of India´s Harmandir Sahib -- aka the Golden Temple of Amritsar -- one of the most sacred buildings in the world to the Sikh people," said the website.

Randeep said the Romney joke "falsely portrays the holiest place in the Sikh religion as a vacation resort owned by a non-Sikh".

Reports said Sikhs for Justice, a rights group of the community, has lodged complaint with the TV broadcasting regulator Federal Communications Commission against Leno and NBC, the TV company that hosts the show.

Meanwhile, US State department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland was quoted by media saying that US had not communicated with India on the issue but defended that the US Constitution strictly protects freedom of speech.

"I hope [Leno will] be appreciative if we make the point that his comments are constitutionally protected in the United States under free speech and, frankly, they appeared to be satirical in nature," Nuland told reporters, said BBC.