Indian officials misplace Rushdie book ban order

A significant legal question has arisen regarding Salman Rushdie's controversial book, The Satanic Verses, which was banned in India back in 1988. This ban was put in place due to accusations of blasphemy from certain Muslim groups. Recently, the Delhi High Court suggested that the ban might not be valid anymore because the government has been unable to locate the original notification that imposed the ban. This situation has sparked a debate among legal experts about whether the book can now be imported into India. Salman Rushdie is a prominent author known for his critical views on Islam, which have made him a target for extremists. In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's assassination, forcing him into hiding for nearly a decade. Although The Satanic Verses remains officially banned in India, some legal experts believe that it could potentially be imported unless the government reaffirms the ban. However, others caution that there may still be practical challenges to this. The scrutiny of the ban began when Sandipan Khan, a resident of West Bengal, attempted to purchase the book but discovered that it was neither published in India nor could it be imported. In 2017, he filed a Right to Information (RTI) request to obtain the official notification banning the book's import, but he was passed around various government departments without any success. In 2019, Khan escalated the issue to the Delhi High Court, arguing that the ban infringed upon his right to read. Over the course of five years, government departments repeatedly failed to produce the notification, even though customs records from as far back as 1968 were available. Finally, on November 5, the court stated that it had no choice but to 'presume' that no such ban notification exists, and therefore it could not assess its validity. This raises an intriguing question: is a notification still valid if no copy of it can be found? The court has not clarified whether the book can be accessed in India but has advised Mr. Khan to explore any legal avenues to obtain it. Uddyam Mukherjee, Mr. Khan's lawyer, informed the BBC that federal departments were also unable to provide a clear answer when questioned by the court. Madan Lokur, a former Supreme Court judge, remarked that he had never encountered a situation like this before. He noted that if the notification cannot be found, then 'technically no ban exists,' allowing for the possibility of importing the book. However, he also mentioned that the government could issue a new notification to ban the book's import, as the court has not declared the original ban unconstitutional, only presumed it to be non-existent. Mr. Mukherjee argued that the book could now be imported since there is no legal barrier against it. Nevertheless, some legal experts disagree with this interpretation. Raju Ramachandran, a senior lawyer, described the suggestion that the book could be imported as 'a little extreme. ' He explained that the high court's ruling only indicated that Mr. Khan's petition had become invalid due to the absence of the notification and did not grant him the right to import the book. Senior lawyer Sanjay Hegde added that the book could have been published in India if someone had the courage to print it, as only its import was banned, not its publication. He noted that despite the controversy, no one was willing to print it in India. In 2012, the Rajasthan state government took action against four Indian authors who read excerpts from The Satanic Verses at a literary festival. At that time, many legal experts believed that downloading a book that had been banned from import could not be considered a crime. However, finding online copies of the book in India has proven to be quite challenging. Salman Rushdie, now 76 years old, continues to face threats due to his outspoken views on Islam. In 2022, he was attacked and lost an eye, spending six weeks in the hospital after being stabbed multiple times during an event in New York. The suspect, Hadi Matar, has been charged with attempted murder. In his recent memoir, Rushdie criticized the lack of a proper review process for his book in India, stating that 'no properly authorized body had reviewed the book, nor was there any semblance of a judicial process.