Cuttack, Feb. 3: The two-year-old controversy over an Oriya book on Prophet Mohammed has taken a new turn with Orissa High Court issuing an injunction on criminal proceedings against Rabindra Prasad Panda, the author who was arrested in Calcutta for alleged inaccuracies in it.

Panda (73), who faces criminal charges of “deliberate and malacious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings” of a community had filed a writ petition for quashing the FIR and criminal proceedings arising out of it.

“Justice Indrajeet Mohanty admitted the writ petition on Tuesday and issued an interim stay order on further criminal proceedings pending against him in the court of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate,” Panda’s counsel Pitambar Acharya said today.

The controversy had sparked after a complaint was lodged at the Lalbag police station here on March 8, 2008. The complaint lodged by one Abdul Ahat had alleged inaccuracies in the Oriya book Hazrat Muhammad, and a photograph depicting the prophet (with a sword in his left hand and dagger on the waste) in its cover.

On the basis of the complaint, Panda was picked up by the Orissa police from his Salt Lake residence in Calcutta and brought to Cuttack on March 14. Later, cases were registered against him under Section 295(a) of the IPC. The author remained in remand till bail was granted to him on March 18.

Acharya said: “The high court further directed to include as a respondent in the case Abdul Ahat who had lodged the complaint before the police representing Mazlis-e-Hami-Milat--Shariat. Our basic contention is that the allegation does not constitute offence under Section 295(a).”