Because the government was unable to produce the original notification upholding the ban, a court verdict effectively removed India’s three-decade ban on the importation of Salman Rushdie’s controversial novel, The Satanic Verses. In 1988, the book was outlawed because some Muslims believed it to be insulting. A 2019 case against this import prohibition was heard by the Delhi High Court.
The government told the Delhi High Court in a November 5 court decision that the ban order was “untraceable and, therefore, could not be produced.” The court came to the conclusion that it had to “presume that no such notification exists” as a result. Sandipan Khan’s attorney, Uddyam Mukherjee, said, “The ban has been lifted as of November 5 because there is no notification.”
