New Delhi/UNI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the criminal proceedings against Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya for his alleged controversial remarks on Tulasidas’ Ramcharitmanas.

A bench comprising Justice B R Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh Government and sought its response. "Issue notice returnable in four weeks,” the bench said.

The additional advocate general for the State of Uttar Pradesh Sharan Dev Singh Thakur who was present in the court accepted the notice.

“Why do you have to be so touchy?" Justice Gavai asked, "It's a matter of interpretation. How is it an offence?"

Maurya approached the apex court challenging the Allahabad High Court order, which had dismissed his plea to quash legal proceedings against him in the Pratapgarh district court against his remarks on Tulsidas' 'Ramcharitmanas'.

Maurya has been accused of making a statement that certain "chaupayi" of the Ramcharitmanas written by Tulsidas insult a large section of society and thus should be banned.

This led to a controversy and a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against him and other Samajwadi Party members.

The SP leader in a statement had allegedly said that the sacred text of the Hindus, the Ramcharitmanas, was written by Tulsidas for self-praise, wherein he abused Dalits, tribals, and backward by naming their castes and calling them "Shudra."

In the FIR it was stated that the Samajwadi leader’s endorsement of the burning of the copies of the Ramcharitmanas triggered public anger and unease.