A Jain sage who was seen naked during a procession in a Goa town recently has been booked for obscenity.
The accused, Pranam Sagar Maharaj, belongs to the Jain Digambar sect, members of which shun clothes and other material possessions.
He was seen in photos with former Goa chief minister chief minister Digambar Kamat in Margao town last month.
The photo went viral on social media and invited the wrath of some politciians, with Goa PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar calling for a ban on naked sages.
A trial court this week ordered the Goa Police to file a first information report (FIR) against the sage under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), dealing with obscenity in public places.
"No doubt the freedom to practise and propagate one's religion is sacrosanct under the Constitution of India, but with every freedom comes responsibility and duty not to cause annoyance to others," the order said, according to IANS.
Pranam Sagar Maharaj had conducted a procession in Margao last month and was photographed while walking around in the nude.
"It is very bad. It should not happen. Those times were different. We are near 2021 now," Dhavalikar had said.
Dhavalikar had earlier hogged the limelight demanding a ban on bikinis in Goa insisting that they go against the Indian culture.
