24, Sep 2015

An FIR filed against rationalist K S Bhagavan and writer Chandrashekar Patil at Uppinangady police station in Dakshina Kannada district two days ago was transferred to the High Grounds police station in Bengaluru.
A case was booked against the duo under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).
Bhagavan, 70, is a former professor of English and a resident of Mysuru. Chandrashe kar Patil aka Champa, 76, is also a former English professor and acclaimed Kannada playwright. He hails from Dharwad, where rationalist-scholar M M Kalburgi was gunned down last month.