Teacher said my jokes are more dangerous: Abhijit Iyer-Mitra after getting bail

Delhi-based defence analyst Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, who was recently released from the judicial custody for his remarks against Odisha, took to Twitter on Saturday saying that he has finally understood what his English teacher told him in 10th standard.

"In the 10th standard, My English teacher, Mrs Prema Raghunath, who was very fond of me, told me "your jokes are more dangerous than your serious comments". Today I understand exactly what she meant .. finally," said Abhijit in a tweet.

For the unversed, Abhijit was arrested on October 23 for allegedly passing derogatory remarks against Odisha, its people, Konark Temple and Lord Jagannath. Two PILs were filed against him in the matter. 

The Orissa High Court on Thursday granted Mitra bail after a judicial custody of 44 days. 

In a petition to the state government, Mitra apologised for the video stating that he did not intend to hurt the sentiments of the people of Odisha.

He had also tendered an unconditional apology for having hurt the sentiments of people of Odisha unintentionally. The Privilege Committee of Odisha Assembly pardoned him on November 16. 

According to reports, Mitra was granted conditional bail on Thursday by the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) at Konark in Puri district and the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM), Bhubaneswar, in Khurda. The courts have also asked him for a personal bond of Rs 20,000 each and on condition that he would never resort to anti-Odisha remarks in the future.

The Odisha government on December 4 had accepted the appeal of Abhijit and decided not to accord sanction of his prosecution, news agency PTI reported. 

(With inputs from PTI)