The Delhi High Court has lifted the 36-year ban on importing The Satanic Verses, written by Indian-British author Salman Rushdie. The court ruled that the 1988 Customs notification banning the book’s import cannot be upheld, as authorities failed to produce a copy of it.
Notification Considered “Non-Existent”
A bench of Justice Rekha Palli and Justice Saurabh Banerjee found that neither the Customs Department nor the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) could locate the 1988 notification. Without it, the court said it could not review the ban’s legality. The judges declared the notification “non-existent,” allowing petitioner Sandipan Khan to import the book.
The court also confirmed that Khan may take all lawful actions regarding the book’s import. Khan’s petition, filed in 2019, challenged the ban and sought permission to import The Satanic Verses from publishers or online sellers.
Ban Originated from Religious Complaints
In 1988, the Congress government under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi imposed the ban, citing complaints from members of the Muslim community who found the book offensive. Since then, the ban has restricted the book’s import into India. Now, with the High Court’s recent decision, the restrictions on importing The Satanic Verses no longer apply.
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