Hyderabad HC issues interim stay on Paripoornananda's externment

Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday put an interim stay on the order of the Hyderabad police externing religious seer Paripoornananda from Hyderabad.  

Hyderabad police had externed Paripoornananda for six months claiming that he was a threat to law and order and the social fabric of the state, citing certain allegedly objectionable remarks made by the seer against film critic Kathi Mahesh. His externment came two days after Kathi Mahesh was also externed for his remarks. Paripoornananda had moved court contesting the ban. 

Paripoornananda's counsel on Tuesday brought to the notice of the bench that the externment order amounts to the infringement of fundamental rights of the petitioner. 

“It has been confirmed that HC has given direction to the police to revoke their externment order. TRS should know that this undemocratic way of externing people won't work in a democratic country like India. The state government had no reasons to extern Swami Paripoornannda," said G Kishen Reddy, BJP spokesperson.  

When asked if the interim stay pronounced by the HC could be used to revoke the ban on Kathi Mahesh, Reddy said, "They can go and seek the ban to be revoked based on this interim stay, but it still stands that Mahesh Kathi has intentionally hurt religious sentiments," he added. 

Paripoornanda had reportedly riled up his followers against Kathi and threatened to organise protests across the state over his statements against a Hindu deity. The police had then said it could cause potential unrest in the city.  

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, the police had said.  

Police, before evicting him from Hyderabad, reportedly served a notice to the seer asking why they should not extern him under the Telangana Prevention of Anti-Social and Hazardous Activities Act, 1980. They had granted him 24 hours’ time to respond, however, the seer had reportedly refused to acknowledge the notice. 

Paripoornananda, following the externment, had moved court filing three separate petitions challenging the externment orders by the Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda commissioners, along with Telangana's Principal Secretary (Home), naming them as the respondents in the case.  

The High Court in Hyderabad, earlier in July, directed the principal secretary, home of the department, to place the records pertaining to the case before it. 

Meanwhile, the Hyderabad High Court last month granted three weeks to the Hyderabad city police to respond to a petition which questioned the externment order against film critic Kathi Mahesh. 

Kathi Mahesh, who is 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 issue had blown out of proportion after Kathi made a remark on the Ramayana. 

Kathi Mahesh, 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?”