An Indian court has lifted the decades-old ban on the import of Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, as authorities were unable to locate the original order imposing the restriction.
Rushdie’s novel, published in 1988, was banned in India due to the controversies it sparked.
India became the first country to ban the book because of its portrayal of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, which many Muslims found blasphemous, leading to protests and threats against the British-Indian author.
The ban became the subject of a petition filed in 2019 by an individual named Sandipan Khan, who challenged the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs at the Delhi High Court.
Khan questioned the legality of the 1988 order, which prohibited the book’s import under India’s 1962 Customs Act, claiming it contained alleged blasphemous content.
In his petition, Khan argued that the ban violated the fundamental right to freedom of expression, and he requested the court to allow the book’s import.
According to legal documents, Khan asked the judiciary for a copy of the order that banned the book’s import. However, he was informed that the document could not be found.
Records show that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs requested multiple extensions from May 2019 to May 2024 from the Delhi High Court to locate the document. Eventually, they informed the court that “the text of the order is untraceable and thus cannot be provided.”
In the final hearing on the matter this week, the Delhi High Court ruled that “there is no alternative but to assume the non-existence of such a notice.”
In the ruling issued on November 5, the court stated that “the petitioner shall be entitled to proceed with actions related to this book as per the law.”
This ruling underscores a turning point in freedom of expression in India, as a long-standing ban on a controversial work is lifted, allowing new discourse on sensitive literary content in the country.
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