New Delhi Nov 30 PTI The Delhi High Court Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking direction to the Centre and Delhi government to ban the sale and publication of Congress leader Salman Khurshids book Sunrise Over Ayodhya Nationhood In Our TimesA bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh pulled up the petitioner for not impleading the author of the book or publication house as a party to the plea saying he was a chance taking petitioner who has filed the plea for publicityYou want complete ban on the book but you have not made the author a party You may ask any heaven or sky We may dismiss it with costs You are not joining the author as a party Stop doing this activity in court Why are you feeling so shy and not joining the author as a party We will not give you any chance this is a deliberate move These are all chance taking petitioners It is for publicity the bench saidAfter sometime the petitioners counsel sought permission to withdraw the petition and file a fresh one with proper averments annexures and joining proper persons as partiesThe court allowed him to withdraw the petition and disposed it of as withdrawnHe has no courage to join Salman Kurshid as a party what type of PIL he will argue If you are so much worried about the name of the author or the senior advocate you should not have filed the PIL These are blackmailing or publicity petitions This is a waste of time PIL the bench saidPetitioner Rakesh in his plea through advocates A K Dubey and Pawan Kumar alleged that Khurshid has misused his fundamental right to freedom of expression in a very complex manner as it is not absolute and carries with it special duties and responsibilities towards public interestIt said there are 90 crore Hindus in the country and if anyone takes offence of such statements made in the book it could become a law and order problem in the societySalman Khurshid has written in the chapter That Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints was being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years it saidKhurshids new book on the Ayodhya dispute was released recentlyOn November 17 an additional civil judge here had refused to grant an ex-parte injunction on a lawsuit by Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta to stop the publication circulation and sale of the book for allegedly hurting sentiments of a large section of societyWhile declining interim relief the trial court had said the author and publisher had the right to write and publish the book PTI SKV SA

New Delhi Nov 27 PTI Free speech is not to be exercised only if it falls in line with the majoritarian view and right to dissent is the essence of a vibrant democracy the Delhi High Court has said while dismissing a plea to stop the publication circulation and sale of Congress leader Salman Khurshids new bookJustice Yashwant Varma who was dealing with the plea which claimed the book Sunrise Over Ayodhya Nationhood In Our Times impinges upon the faith of others said that rights guaranteed by the Constitution including free speech cannot be restricted or denied on perceived apprehension of being unpalatable and a democracy governed by the rule of law would be placed in serious peril if creative voices were stifled or intellectual freedom is suppressedIn his six-page order the judge quoted Voltaire While I wholly disagree of what you say I will defend to the death your right to say it and said that free speech must be zealously protected unless the work conclusively falls foul of the constitutional or statutory restrictionsThe right to dissent or to have and express a contrarian view with respect to current affairs or historical events are the essence of a vibrant democracy That fundamental and precious right guaranteed by our Constitution can neither be restricted nor denied merely on the perceived apprehension of the view being unpalatable or disagreeable to some The freedom to freely express ideas and opinions cannot be permitted to be overshadowed by the ominous cloud of being non-conformist the court said in its order passed on November 25The freedom to freely express ideas and opinions cannot be permitted to be overshadowed by the ominous cloud of being non-conformist it addedThe court noted that in the present case the book in its entirety was not even placed before the court for its consideration and the entire case rested solely on certain extracts appearing in one of the chaptersIn the petition the petitioner had claimed that certain excerpts from the book were agitating the Hindu community while threatening the security peace and harmony of the nationCounsel for the petitioner had contended that the book in its chapter called The Saffron Sky compared Hindutva to radical groups like ISIS and Boko Haram which could harm public peaceSo in a country like India which is perpetually on a communal tinderbox where religious sentiments run deep where respect for certain public and historical figures always come accompanied with veneration for their demi-god status it doesnt take much for malice to be coated with a toxic communal hue based on the contents of the book the petition had said PTI ADS ZMN

New Delhi Nov 25 PTI Asking what it could do if people were feeling so sensitive the Delhi High Court Thursday dismissed a petition to stop the publication circulation and sale of Congress leader Salman Khurshids book Sunrise Over Ayodhya Nationhood In Our TimesJustice Yashwant Varma who was hearing a plea which claimed the book by the former Union minister impinges upon the faith of others told the petitioner Vineet Jindal-- to ask people to not read the book insteadCounsel for the petitioner contended that the book in its chapter called The Saffron Sky compared Hindutva to radical groups like ISIS and Boko Haram which could harm public peaceAsk people not to buy the book or read it Tell people it is badly authored tell them to read something better People who are incensed should write their own chapter responded the judge who noted that the entire book was not before the court Claiming that it was the duty of all persons to maintain peace the lawyer added that the author was a public figure and there has already been an incident of violence concerning the bookNot impressed with the submission the judge remarked What can we do if people are feeling so sensitive They can shut their eyes Nobody has asked them to read it During the hearing the lawyer submitted that freedom of speech was unfettered and that the government should see before giving licence for the publicationThe court dismissed the submission saying the government has not given any licence and a publisher does not need a license The lawyer claimed that every communal riot has come backing and argued that the objectionable parts should be removed from the book before its circulation The petitioner a lawyer had claimed that certain excerpts from the book were agitating the Hindu community while threatening the security peace and harmony of the nationSo in a country like India which is perpetually on a communal tinderbox where religious sentiments run deep where respect for certain public and historical figures always come accompanied with veneration for their demi-god status it doesnt take much for malice to be coated with a toxic communal hue based on the contents of the book the petition statedOn November 17 an additional civil judge here had refused to grant an ex-parte injunction on a lawsuit by Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta to stop the publication circulation and sale of the book for allegedly hurting sentiments of a large section of society While declining interim relief the trial court had said the author and publisher had the right to write and publish the book PTI ADS RKS RKS

New Delhi Nov 25 PTI Asking what it could do if people were feeling so sensitive the Delhi High Court Thursday dismissed a petition to stop the publication circulation and sale of Congress leader Salman Khurshids book Sunrise Over Ayodhya Nationhood In Our Times The court was hearing a plea by lawyer Vineet Jindal who claimed the book by the former Union minister impinges upon the faith of others as it compares Hindutva to radical groups like ISIS and Boko Haram Ask people not to buy the book or read it Tell people it is badly authored read something better said Justice Yashwant VarmaThe peitioners counsel claimed the book could result in a breach of public peace and it was the duty of all persons to maintain peaceWhat can we do if people are feeling so sensitive the judge remarked as he proceeded to dismiss the petitionOn November 17 an additional civil judge here had refused to grant an ex-parte injunction on a lawsuit by Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta to stop the publication circulation and sale of the book for allegedly hurting sentiments of a large section of society While declining interim relief the trial court had said the author and publisher had the right to write and publish the book PTI ADS MIN MIN

New Delhi Nov 17 PTI A Delhi court on Wednesday refused to grant ex-parte injunction in a lawsuit seeking direction to stop the publication circulation and sale of former Union Minister Salman Khurshids book for allegedly hurting sentiments of a large section of the society The suit filed by Hindu Sena President Vishnu Gupta has sought direction to the authorities concerned to stop the publication circulation and sale of the Book namely Sunrise Over Ayodhya for allegedly hurting the sentimentsAdditional Civil Judge Preeti Parewa put up the matter for arguments and clarification on the maintainability of the suit on November 18In the opinion of this court neither a prima facie case nor any exceptional circumstance for grant of ad-interim ex-parte injunction in favour of the plaintiff is made out in the present case Also the plaintiff has failed to establish that the balance of convenience lies in his favour Hence the prayer for ad-interim ex-parte relief is declined at this stage the judge saidThe court said that the author and publisher had the right to write and publish the book The plaintiff has not been able to establish that inconvenience will be caused to him to avoid the book or alleged offensive excerpts of the book On the other hand the injunction would lead to hardship for the publishers and also curtail the right of speech and expression of the author the court said It said that the applicant can always propagate against the book and can even publish a rebuttal to the alleged paragraphs which have hurt his sentiments Also only a copy of the excerpt has been placed on record and such excerpt cannot be read in exclusionisolation for interpreting the context in which the said statement has been made the court notedThe plea claimed that the book launch event just before the upcoming assembly election in Uttar Pradesh was aimed at polarising and gaining the votes of the minorities in the stateThe plea seeks a prohibitory injunction to prohibit the publication distribution circulation and sale of the book and also ban the book in the larger interest of the society and country PTI UK RKS RKS