In Russia, a court today dismissed a petition seeking a ban on a translated version of Bhagwad Gita for being extremist. Sadhu Priya Das of Moscow ISKCON told PTI that the court in the Siberian city of Tomsk has dismissed the plea.

State prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk had filed an appeal against a lower court's dismissal of their original plea seeking a ban on Bhagavad Gita .

They claimed that the text was extremist literature full of hatred and insult to non-believers which promoted social discord. The higher court in Tomsk kept the verdict of the lower court intact.

As the judge dismissed the plea, the followers in the packed courtroom burst into applause. Brajendra Nandan Das, Director ISKCON media communication in India, expressed happiness over the verdict.

The case had drawn a flurry of criticism from Hindus across the world.