MUMBAI, INDIA, April 17, 2004: Author James Laine yesterday submitted a fresh apology to the Bombay High Court, in what appears to signal the end of the controversy over his book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India. The state government informed the court that it would consider withdrawing the first information report (FIR, a police charge) against the publishers, Oxford University Press, and the author, once it received the final draft of the apology.
The division bench of Justice S. Radhakrishnan and Justice R. S. Mohite remarked that it was in favor of a compromise with a view to ending the violence over the book. In the draft submitted in court by Laine’s counsel Mahesh Jethmalani, the author clarified that “historical evidence in fact suggested that Shahaji was indeed Shivaji’s biological father.”
Laine said in the apology: “It was never my intention to denigrate Shivaji or outrage sentiments. It is obvious that there can be no historical basis for jokes. Historical evidence suggests that Shahaji was Shivaji’s biological father and that is also my view. In writing the book, I had hoped to contribute in some way to a rich understanding of this great man. I forthwith direct my publishers to henceforth delete the offending paragraph on Page 93 from all future publications of the book worldwide.”
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