Orders on Prof. Guru’s bail petition today

Prof. Mahesh Chandraguru, professor in in the Department of Communication and Journalism of University of Mysore.

A city court has posted orders on a bail petition filed by University of Mysore’s Professor of Journalism B.P. Mahesh Chandra Guru, who has been in judicial custody in connection with cases booked against him for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Hindu deity Rama and Bhagavad Gita, for Friday.

Though Prof. Guru, on Wednesday, managed to obtain bail in the case booked against him for reportedly questioning the character of Rama at a function held at Manasagangothri in Mysuru in January 2015, the court had, on Thursday, extended his judicial custody till July 5 in connection with a different case against him for allegedly supporting a call to burn Bhagavad Gita during a programme held in February 2015.

The Fourth Additional First Munsiff Court, however, after hearing the objections filed by the public prosecutor and arguments by counsel for Prof. Guru, posted for Friday the orders on the bail petition.

The Jayalakshmipuram police in Mysuru had booked Prof. Guru under Section 295 A, which deals with hate speech, in two separate cases. While he used derogatory words to describe Lord Rama in one case booked on January 5, 2015, he is the third accused in another case for supporting a call to burn Bhagavad Gita booked on February 16, 2015. In the second case, writers Prof. K.S. Bhagavan and Arvind Malagatti are the first and second accused, police said.

After police filed a charge-sheet pertaining to the first case relating to passing of critical remarks against Lord Rama, Prof. Guru turned up in the court last Friday in response to the summons issued by it. As Prof. Guru had not obtained anticipatory bail, the court handed him over to judicial custody.

Meanwhile, University of Mysore, at a Syndicate meeting on Tuesday, has decided to suspend Prof. Guru in view of the developments.

Speaking to The Hindu , University Registrar C. Basavaraju cited the provisions of Karnataka State Civil Services Rules to keep employees under suspension when they are arrested and kept under detention for more than 48 hours.

According to the rules, any employee, who is arrested and kept in detention for more than 48 hours, is “deemed to be suspended”. The suspension can be revoked only after he secures bail and is released from jail. The issue will have to be kept before the Syndicate again and a decision has to be taken on revoking the suspension, Prof. Basavaraju added.