Missing order raises questions about Salman Rushdie’s book ban

Is it legal to import Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses in India?

The issue has baffled legal experts ever since the Delhi High Court said this week that a 1988 notification banning the import of novels may no longer be valid as the government cannot find it.

“The Satanic Verses” was criticized by some Muslims as blasphemous and was banned in India shortly after its release, sparking protests around the world. In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s assassination. This forced the Indian-born Booker Prize-winning author to go into hiding for nearly a decade.

Although the book remains officially banned in India, some legal experts now believe it can be imported unless the government reaffirms the ban. However, others warn that practical obstacles may still remain.

The ban came under scrutiny after West Bengal resident Sandipan Khan tried to buy the book but learned it was not published in India and could not be imported.

In 2017, he applied to the Right to Information (RTI) for an official notice banning the import of the book, but went through a series of departments but found none.

In 2019, Khan took the matter to the Delhi High Court, arguing that the ban affected his freedom to read.

For five years, government agencies repeatedly failed to file notifications, despite similar records from Customs dating back to 1968.

Finally, the court announced on November 5 that it had no choice but to “presume” that no such injunction notice existed and therefore could not assess its validity.

The case raises a confusing question: Is a notice valid if a copy cannot be found?

The simple answer is, we haven’t.

The court has not yet clarified whether the book is available in India but advised Mr Khan to take any legal route to obtain it.

Mr Khan’s lawyer Uddyam Mukherjee told the BBC that the federal department was also unable to provide clear answers when asked by the court.

“I have never come across a situation like this,” said Madan Lokur, a former Supreme Court judge.

If no notice is found, “technically, there is no ban” and the book can be imported.

“However, the government may pass new notifications [banning the book’s import]”, Mr. Locker added, because the court did not declare the ban unconstitutional, but merely said the notice was presumed not to exist.

Mr Mukherjee argued that the book could now be imported “because there is no legal impediment to the book”.

However, some legal experts disagree.

Senior lawyer Raju Ramachandran said saying the book could be imported was “a bit extreme”.

“All the High Court said was that this particular petition had become moot. [invalid] Because the notice cannot be found,” he said. “It does not give the applicant the right to import the book.”

Senior lawyer Sanjay Hegde said the book could have been published in India if “someone had been brave enough to print it” as only its import, not its publication, was banned.

“But after all the fuss, no one wanted to print it in India.”

In 2012, the Government of Rajasthan seeking arrest Four Indian writers—Hari Kunzru, Ruchir Joshi, Amitava Kumar and Jeet Thayil— —Downloaded several passages from The Satanic Verses and read them at a literary festival in the city.

At the time, many legal experts believed that downloading a book that was banned from import could not be considered a crime. But it is difficult to find the online version of this book in India.

Rushdie, 76, continues to face threats for his outspoken views on Islam.

In 2022, he was stabbed 10 times on stage at an event in New York state, losing an eye and being hospitalized for six weeks. The suspect, Hadi Matar, has been charged with attempted murder.

In his recent memoir, the author criticized the response to his book, stating that “there was no proper authorizing body [in India] The book has been reviewed and there is no sign of any judicial proceedings”.