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The Centre and Orissa Government on Thursday informed the Orissa High Court that they would take immediate steps to ban publication and circulation of controversial book titled The Life of Sri Aurobindo written by US writer Peter Hasse.
In their respective counter affidavits filed in High Court, Centre and Orissa Government highlighted that the biography containing defamatory and perverse comments on Sri Aurobindo's character, life, writings and thoughts would affect the sentiments of lakhs of his followers.
The affidavits came in the wake of a PIL filed by a Gitanjali Bhattacharya of Balasore seeking ban on publication and circulation of the book in India.
The High Court after admitting the petition had asked the governments to file counter affidavits.
The Orissa government in its affidavit has mentioned that a crime branch enquiry was ordered to go through the contents of the book and find whether the book had defamatory comments about Sri Aurobindo.
"The police found the book is blasphemous," state government affidavit said.
The division bench of the High Court comprising Justice I M Qudusi and Justice S C Parija accepting the affidavits of the governments asked the petitioner to withdraw her petition as her prayer has been allowed.