Delhi High Court permits man to buy Satanic Verses after Centre fails to produce notification banning the book

India was one of the first countries to ban the book’s import and sale, citing concerns over its content being offensive to the Muslim community

The Delhi High Court has permitted a Delhi resident to lawfully procure the book titled The Satanic Verses by Booker Prize-winning author Salman Rushdie after the Centre failed to produce a 1988 notification which banned the import of the controversial book.

India was one of the first countries to ban the book’s import and sale, citing concerns over its content being offensive to the Muslim community.

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A Bench of Justices Rekha Palli and Saurabh Banerjee said the Centre had failed to produce a copy of the notification issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on October 5, 1988, during the pendency of the present writ petition since its filing way back in 2019.

‘My book being put in jail’: Salman Rushdie’s interview to N. Ram on October 9, 1988

“In the light of the aforesaid circumstances, we have no other option except to presume that no such notification exists, and therefore, we cannot examine the validity thereof and dispose of the writ petition as infructuous,” the court said in its order passed on November 5.

It, additionally, said the petitioner, Sandipan Khan, is “entitled to take all actions in respect of the said book as available in law”.

Advocate Uddyam Mukherjee, representing Mr. Khan, argued that his client was compelled to approach the court as he was unable to import the book on account of it being banned by the Centre.

Mr. Mukherjee said his client tried to purchase the book from various leading bookstores but was informed that it was not allowed to be sold in India.

Mr. Mukherjee, however, said the notification was neither available on any of the government’s website nor was available with any of the government department. He also showed the court a reply to an RTI query received by Mr. Khan in 2018 from the office of the Home Ministry, in which it was informed of the book being banned but the relevant file was not traceable.

Published - November 07, 2024 08:30 pm IST