Delhi High Court Lifts 36-Year-Long Import Ban on Salman Rushdie’s 'The Satanic Verses'

New Delhi, India: Delhi High Court on Thursday lifted a 36-year-long import ban on Salman Rushdie’s controversial vel Satanic Verses, ruling that ban could longer be enforced due to government’s inability to locate official tification that h kept it in place.

import of Satanic Verses was banned in India in 1998 under a government-issued tification, following protests from various Muslim groups who claimed vel was blasphemous. 1988 book, which sparked global outr, has long been a lightning rod for controversy, particularly in Islamic communities, for its perceived insults to Islam.

In latest legal development, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) mitted in court that original tification issued in 1988 could longer be found. With document to back prohibition, bench of Justice Rekha Palli and Justice Saurabh Banerjee, on vember 5, declared that it could t examine validity of ban. As a result, court disposed of petition challenging import ban as “infructuous.”

"In light of aforesaid circumstances, we have or option except to presume that such tification exists, and refore, we cant examine validity reof and dispose of writ petition as infructuous," court said in its ruling.

case was brought before court in 2019 by Sandipan Khan, who argued that ban was preventing him from importing book. Khan pointed out that tification could t be found on any official government website, r was it available with relevant authorities. 

book, which was first published in 1988, has remained a highly contentious work, especially in wake of protests and calls for its banning following its release. Indian government, under n-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, imposed ban in response to widespre outr over allegations of blasphemy, though it remained a subject of legal debate and public discussion for deces.

Following court's ruling, vel can w legally be imported into India once more. However, Satanic Verses remains banned in several or countries due to its controversial mes, including United Kingdom, Iran, and several Middle Eastern nations.