Pune: In a twist to the campaign for the post of president of the forthcoming Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, a prestigious annual literary event in Maharashtra, police have registered a case against HM Marathe, a renowned author, for allegedly spreading communal hatred.
The 72-year-old author, according to the complaint filed by `Sambhaji Brigade`, a Maratha community organisation, distributed pamphlets to canvas his candidature for the post of president of the Sahitya Sammelan (literary convention), which allegedly referred to the controversial book written by American writer James Laine on the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji.
An offence under section 153(a) of IPC was registered against Marathe yesterday on a complaint filed by Santosh Shinde, city unit chief of Sambhaji Brigade, police said.
Marathe is a candidate for election to the post of the president of the 86th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sammelan to be held in January 2013 at Chiplun in the coastal Ratnagiri district in Konkan.
The author has already said that he will withdraw the controversial pamphlet circulated by him to the member voters as it had offended sentiments of a section of people.
PTI
