The Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday granted three weeks to the Hyderabad city police to respond to a petition which questioned the externment order against film critic and activist Kathi Mahesh.
Stating that it was an infringement of his fundamental rights, the petition contended that he was not even given a notice ahead of the order, which was against the law.
The petition also pointed out that Kathi’s comments on the Ramayana had been blown out of proportion and called the externment an unwarranted action.
Earlier this week, Kathi Mahesh, who was in Bengaluru, was served two show cause notices by the Rachakonda and Cyberabad police commissioners, asking him why he should not be externed from their respective commissionerates.
The entire incident had blown out of proportion after Kathi made a remark on the Ramayana.
Mahesh Kathi, who was participating in a debate about a sedition case filed against rationalist Babu Gogineni had said, “For me, Ramayana is just another story…I believe Rama is as much a cheater (dagulbhaji) as he is 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 with that?”
This had triggered a massive row in the state, following which the police externed Mahesh.
In a related development, the Hyderabad High Court also heard a petition filed by Hindu seer Paripoornananda earlier this week, challenging the externment orders issued against him by the Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda commissionerates.
Paripoornanda had received the notices earlier this month, after he had allegedly riled up his followers against Kathi, with the police saying that it was causing potential unrest in the city.
The externment order cited several instances of Paripoornanda making statements promoting enmity between communities.
Police said Paripoornanda, who started an organisation called 'Rashtriya Hindu Sena' in November 2017, made provocative remarks at meetings in Hyderabad, Kamareddy and other places in Telangana.