'No Such Notification Exists': Delhi HC Closes Plea Against 1988 Import Ban On Salman Rushdie's Novel 'The Satanic Verses'

The Delhi High Court has closed the proceedings in a case against the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government's 1988 decision to ban the import of Salman Rushdie's contentious book, "The Satanic Verses."

In a recent ruling, the high court bench led by Justice Rekha Palli observed that the petition, which was pending since 2019, was infructuous and the petitioner would be entitled to take all actions in respect of the book, Hindustan Times reported.

The Congress government had banned the book in 1988, citing concerns over potential law and order issues.

The book had triggered a massive international row as sections of Muslims across the world termed it as blasphemous.

Petitioner Sandipan Khan had claimed in the court that he was unable to import the book on account of a notification issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on 5 October 1988, banning its import in India.

Khan said that the notification wasn not available on the website. It was not even present with the officials.

The court noted that the said notification wasn't produced in the court.

"What emerges is that none of the respondents could produce the said notification dated 05.10.1988 with which the petitioner is purportedly aggrieved and, in fact, the purported author of the said notification has also shown his helplessness in producing a copy of the said notification during the pendency of the present writ petition since its filing way back in 2019," the bench, also comprising Justice Saurabh Banerjee, observed.

The court presumed that no such notification existed.

"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," it concluded.

Since his 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses" was declared blasphemous by Iran's the then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, Salman Rushdie, now a naturalised American in New York, has become an international emblem of free speech while enduring death threats.

The 76-year-old author was on stage in August 2022 when he was stabbed up to 12 times by accused Hadi Matar in prison for attempted murder.

As a result of the assault, Rushdie lost one of his eyes.

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