The Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday granted three weeks time to the city police to respond to a petition that questioned the externment order against film critic Mahesh Kathi, reported The News Minute.
The Hyderabad Police had registered a case against Kathi under the IPC section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), following which, he was externed to Chittoor under the Telangana Prevention of Anti-Social and Hazardous Activities Act. Later, Kathi approached the court to seek relief from the externment order.
The Hyderabad HC further said that it was an infringement of his fundamental rights and said it is against the law that he was not given any notice ahead of the order. Meanwhile, two show-cause notices were sent to Kathi, who was in Bengaluru, by the Rachakonda and Cyberabad police commissioners asking that why he should not be externed, the report added.
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It all happened during a recent television debate on the sedition case against rationalist Babu Gogineni. The film critic engaged in a war of words with Hindu seer Paripoorananda Saraswati of the Kakinada Sri Peetham, and reportedly said, “For me, Ramayana is just another story… I believe Rama is as much a cheater (dagulbhaji) as he is an ideal in that story. And I think perhaps Sita would have been better, might have gotten justice if she had stayed with Ravana. What’s wrong in that?”
The Hyderabad Police Commissioner later externed Swami Paripoornananda too, for six months.