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Bharatiya Janata Party leader P C George was on Friday granted bail by a court in Kottayam district in a hate speech case.
A magisterial court in Erattupetta granted bail to George who had surrendered before it on Monday and was remanded to police custody on the same day.
He had surrendered before the court after the Kerala high court rejected his anticipatory bail plea.
Dismissing his petition, the high court had observed that granting bail in such a case would send the wrong message to society.
George, a former MLA, was accused of delivering a hate speech against a minority community during a TV channel discussion.
He had approached the high court after the Kottayam District Sessions Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea in the case registered by the Erattupetta police.
The case was based on a complaint lodged by Muhamed Shihab, a Muslim Youth League leader, who alleged that George made remarks capable of inciting religious hatred.
He was booked under sections 196(1)(a) (promoting enmity between different groups on religious ground) and 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its beliefs) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and section 120(o) (causing nuisance and violation of public order) of the Kerala Police Act.