Rastriya Hindu Jagaran Vedike President Mahesh Thimarody
Credit: X/@MaheshThimarody
Udupi: The Additional Civil Judge and JMFC Court on Saturday granted a conditional bail to Rashtriya Hindu Jagaran Vedike president Mahesh Shetty Timarodi in the case related to his alleged derogatory remarks against BJP national general secretary B L Santosh.
The prosecution filed its objections to Timarodi’s bail plea contending that the statements made by the accused were inflammatory and could potentially affect public peace.
But defense counsel Vijay Vasu Poojary countered the charges and submitted that Timarodi, a known Hindu community leader, had not spoken against any other religion. He clarified that the comments were strictly about Hinduism and did not target any particular religious group.
The court sought to know why police custody was not sought on the day of arrest. “Why it wasn’t requested earlier and why the PSI arrived late for the morning session,” court sought to know.
Expressing displeasure over these lapses, the court granted a total of four hours of police custody and directed the police to produce Timarodi again by 4:40 PM.
After hearing arguments from all sides, court granted conditional bail to Timarodi.The court directed him not to make any statements or act in any manner that could disturb social harmony or public peace.