Writers Bhagwan, Malagatti get bail

The Fourth Judicial Magistrate of First Class Court on Thursday, granted bail to writers K S Bhagwan and Aravind Malagatti in a case filed against them over alleged derogatory remarks on Bhagavadgita, a Hindu epic.

The writers, who appeared before the court, submitted a bail application. But the public prosecutors objected to it. Later, the judge granted anticipatory bail to the accused.

On February 15, 2015, in a seminar conducted at Rani Bahadur Auditorium, Bhagwan had said that he would burn Bhagavadgita. Following the statement, a case was registered against Bhagwan, Karnataka Sahitya Academy Chairman Malagatti, journalism professor in University of Mysore B P Maheshchandra Guru, and writer Banjagere Jayaprakash, who were also present in the seminar.

Even though all the accused managed to obtain bail on March 7, 2015, the court had issued a warrant against Bhagwan and Malagatti, as they failed to cooperate in the investigation.

However, Jayaprakash was dropped from the case as it was learnt that he was not present at the seminar.