A Florida inmate who believes in the Krishna consciousness religion is suing the state for not allowing him to have his religious text in prison.

Rakesh Patel was sentenced for attempted murder in 2009 and is currently incarcerated at the Jefferson Correctional Institution.

According to his lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections, he’s been a devout follower of the Krishna consciousness religion since 2003. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is also known as the Hare Krishna movement, a branch of Hinduism.

Patel is alleging that the prison has barred him from having the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu scripture that guides people seeking self-discipline and inner peace. He says Muslim inmates can have the Quran and Christian inmates can have a Bible, but the state is depriving his freedom of religion by preventing him from having his holy book.

“As an earnest adherent of Krishna consciousness, Plaintiff has a First Amendment right to freely exercise his religion through study and meditation on the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita and the Sanskrit verses that it contains,” the complaint says.

The lawsuit names Ricky Dixon, the secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, and Timothy Mills, the warden for Jefferson Correctional Institution, outside of Monticello. A request for comment is pending with the department.

Is religious text written in ‘code’?

Patel is arguing that the system’s Literature Review Committee rejected his religious text for “being written in ‘code or … otherwise written in a manner that is not reasonably subject to interpretation by staff as to meaning or intent.’ “

Florida’s corrections department is among those in the U.S. that have banned the most books for inmates. In 2019, about 20,000 books were banned for the 96,000 inmates in state custody at the time.

More: Banned behind bars: 20,000 books can’t be read by Florida inmates; the list may surprise you

The lawsuit was filed April 17 in the Tallahassee division of the Northern District of Florida. It was assigned to U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019.

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Stephany Matat is based in Tallahassee, Fla. She can be reached at SMatat@gannett.com. On X: @stephanymatat.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Inmate sues Florida for banning Hare Krishna holy book in prisons