India's stand on Gita vindicated: govt

A day after a Russian court rejected the petition to ban Bhagwad Gita, the government today said its observation that the petitioner has not gone through the original text of the holy scripture has been vindicated.

"Yesterday, I received information from the Foreign Secretary that the higher court, in which the case was being heard, have rejected the petition and clearly demonstrated that even those who filed the petition and made comments, did not go through the original text of the language," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee informed Lok Sabha.

Minutes before the Winter Session of the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, Mukherjee, who is also leader of the House, said the petitioners "depended on the translation of somebody" and basis of that came to "some erroneous conclusions".

Recalling the agitation in the House over the issue, he said External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, while responding to the queries, had stated that "it was absurd and his observations have been vindicated by the judgment of the Russian court."

Mukherjee's statement came a day after India termed as "sensible resolution" of a sensitive issue the rejection of the petition by the Russian court and said it was glad to "put this episode behind us".

The Russian court yesterday rejected a petition that sought a ban on a translated version of Bhagwad Gita.

Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk had argued that the Russian translation of "Bhagwad Gita As It Is" promotes "social discord" and hatred towards non-believers.