New Delhi: The Patiala House Court in New Delhi has deferred the hearing of senior Congress leader Salman Kurshid's controversial book 'Sunrise over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times' till November 28. The court of civil judge Swati Gupta, while hearing the petition filed by the president of Hindu Sena, Vishnu Gupta, seeking a ban on the sale or publication of the book -- ordered the next hearing in the case on November 28.
Earlier on November 17, 2021, the court refused to put a stay on the publication or sale of the book. Now, the court has been seeing the maintainability of the petition. On behalf of the petitioner, counsel Akshay Agrawal pleaded before the court that senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid is an influential person and what he wrote on page number 113 of the book will hurt the Hindu sentiments. "Hence, before the final disposal in the case, the court should impose a ban on the sale of the book as well as its promotion."
On the other hand, while hearing the petition, the court observed that the petitioner has neither sent a mandatory notice under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi -- the first party in the case -- nor has he filed a petition seeking exemption from serving the notice. In such a situation, the book cannot be stopped from publication or sale immediately.
Read: Delhi HC dismisses PIL seeking ban on Salman Khurshid book
The court further said that the petitioner had failed to specify the exact way in which the book has been causing damage to him or others. "Hence, if the book is banned, it will be a violation of the rights of both the author and the publisher. It will also be a violation of freedom of expression. Therefore, if the petitioner wants then he can publish the refutations of what has been written in the book," said the court, adding, "The petitioner has quoted only one paragraph in the book. So, it will be difficult to understand the complete context by reading only one paragraph."
Earlier, the petition was filed by Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta. Advocates Akshay Aggarwal and Sushant Prakash, while appearing for the petitioner, have sought a ban on the publication, sale and dissemination of Salman Khurshid's book. According to the petitioner's counsels, some excerpts from Khurshid's book were found to be offensive and they allegedly hurt the Hindu sentiments.
In Chapter 6 of the book titled 'Saffron Sky', on page number 113, the author Salman Khurshid tried to malign the image of Hinduism and thereby hurting the sentiments of Hindus living in India and abroad. Article 19(A) of the Indian Constitution gives the right to freedom of expression to every citizen, but there are some conditions. The right to freedom of expression cannot be granted at the cost of harmony in the country or society, the lawyers of the petitioner stated.
