Shashi Tharoor gets bail in national anthem case

Shashi Tharoor, the former UN under secretary general and Congress candidate for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, secured bail from a court here in a case charging him with showing disrespect to the national anthem.

Shashi Tharoor, the former UN under secretary general and Congress candidate for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, on Saturday secured bail from a court here in a case charging him with showing disrespect to the national anthem.

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A complaint, filed before additional chief judicial magistrate Cherian K Kuriakose, said Tharoor, after delivering the Hormis Memorial Lecture here December 2008, interrupted the national anthem to urge the audience to place their palms over the heart as people in the US do, instead of the Indian practice of merely standing at attention.

Kuriakose had issued notice to Tharoor to appear in court on Saturday. He did so and denied he had shown disrespect to the national anthem.

He was granted bail by the magistrate, who fixed July 9 for the next hearing.