SC refuses plea to ban Salman Rushdie’s 'The Satanic Verses'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to consider a plea seeking a ban on Salman Rushdie’s controversial novel 'The Satanic Verses'.

The plea was heard by a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. Petitioners’ counsel referred to a Delhi High Court order from November last year.

The high court had dismissed a petition challenging the Rajiv Gandhi government’s 1988 decision to ban the import of 'The Satanic Verses', noting that authorities failed to produce the relevant notification, and it must therefore be presumed non-existent.

“You are effectively challenging the judgment of the Delhi High Court,” the bench said while rejecting the plea.

The petition, filed in the apex court through advocate Chand Qureshi, alleged that the book remained available due to the high court’s earlier order.

The Centre had originally banned the Booker Prize-winning novel in 1988, citing law-and-order concerns after widespread protests by Muslims worldwide who considered the book blasphemous.

PTI