New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS) A court in Russia Wednesday began its final hearing in a state prosecutors’ case seeking a ban on the Bhagavad Gita, one of the holiest Hindu scriptures, and branding it as ‘extremist’ literature.

The Siberian court is scheduled to hear the views of the Russian human rights ombudsman on the Bhagavad Gita and upholding the rights of minority Hindus, before it delivers its verdict, Hindu petitioners told IANS over phone from Tomsk city in Russia.

The court had posted the hearing for Wednesday in its earlier sitting Dec 19 after Hindus pleaded with the judge that the human rights panel of the nation be heard first.