The Bombay High Court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to actor Govinda in a 1997 defamation case relating to a song in one of his movies. Justice Sadhana Jadhav took into consideration the submissions of the actor that he was a public figure and unlikely to abscond. He has also claimed that he did not seek anticipatory bail earlier as he was unaware of a Jharkhand court having issued a proclamation order for his arrest. The court accepted his submission of himself to the law and granted him anticipatory bail for 4 weeks and asking him to pay a surety of Rs. 25000 The case was registered against Govinda 20 ago in Jharkhand, which was part of Bihar then. It is related to a song in his movie Chhote Sarkar that allegedly made a defamatory reference to the state of Bihar. In 1997, a lawyer from the Pakur district of Jharkhand (then Bihar) filed a case of defamation against Govinda, his co-star in the film Shilpa Shetty, and several other crew members. His complaint stated that the actors and other accused persons had defamed Bihar and Uttar Pradesh over the lyrics of the song Ek Chumma Tu Mujhko Udhaar De De in the Chhote Sarkar. Govinda told the court that he had been unaware of the non-bailable warrant as well as the proclamation until February 27 this year, when the police came to his Juhu residence to arrest him. While he was not home then, his domestic help informed him of the police’s visit. Justice Jadhav said that considering the non-bailable warrant, she could not grant him anticipatory bail. However, Govinda urged the court to grant him protection “at least for a limited period of time to allow him to initiate proceedings seeking to quash of the case against him.” The same was granted to him. Govinda is making a comeback to Bollywood films in a solo actor much-delayed movie `Aa Gaya Hero` which is written and produced by Govinda himself.