‘Recently, there’s attempt to bypass High Courts’: Supreme Court asks petitioner challenging J-K Govt’s ban on 25 books to approach HC

“Recently, there’s an attempt to bypass High Courts… Let’s have the advantage of the HC opinion… We have seen the list of the books… Some local people talking about issues… HC would be in a better position…,” said Justice Kant.

“Having regard to issues sought to be raised, we are satisfied that the petitioner can seek redressal thereof effectively by way of writ petition under Article 226,” the bench ordered.

It asked the HC Chief Justice to list the matter before a bench of three judges presided by him, and to “make an endeavour to decide it at the earliest.” The bench clarified that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the issue.

‘That is overboard’

Appearing for petitioner Shakir Shabir, a Kashmir-based lawyer, Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde referred to Section 98 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which deals with the power to declare certain publications forfeited and to issue search warrants for the same.

Hegde said, “Please see how the section operates. It has an all-India operation. That’s the problem. An official of a small state can decide that one series of books may be obscene… and then all over the country, they will be taken over. That is overboard”.

However, when the bench reiterated that the high court should hear it, Hegde urged the bench to consider sending it to some other court. But Justice Kant said it would be demoralising for the jurisdictional high court. “The High Court is a constitutional court. Let it decide,” the judge added.

The impugned notification issued by the principal secretary, Home Department, by order of Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha said: “…it has come to the notice of the Government, that certain literature propagates false narrative and secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir… This literature would deeply impact the psyche of youth by promoting (a) culture of grievance, victimhood and terrorist heroism.”

“Some of the means by which this literature has contributed to the radicalisation of youth in J&K include distortion of historical facts, glorification of terrorists, vilification of security forces, religious radicalization, promotion of alienation, pathway to violence and terrorism etc,” said the notification.

It identified 25 books which were “found to excite secessionism and endangering sovereignty and integrity of India, thereby, attracting the provisions of Sections 152, 196 & 197 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023”.

The books include The Kashmir Dispute 1947-2012 by noted constitutional expert A G Noorani, Kashmir at the Crossroads and Contested Lands by Sumantra Bose, In Search of a Future: The Kashmir Story by David Devadas, Arundhati Roy’s Azadi and A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir After Article 370 by journalist Anuradha Bhasin.