Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Gujarat High Court on Friday overturned the state ban imposed on expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s book Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence.
Setting aside the ban, HC opined that there is no ground to ban the book. The ban curtails fundamental rights, the court said.
Welcoming the lifting of ban Jaswant Singh said he was "thrilled, absolutely thrilled" and it was a
matter of satisfaction that the court had upheld freedom of
speech.
He expressed dismay that the court had to be
approached to uphold the constitutional rights to speech,
write and express. "We all should think about it seriously,"
Singh said.
In its order, the court said that the notification fails to mention the grounds on which the book should be banned. It also said that the notification is silent on how the reading of the book will affect tranquillity of the state.
The state government had issued a notification under Section 95 of the CrPC on August 19 banning Singh's book 'Jinnah-India, Partition, Independence' on the ground that it was against "national interest" and the contents were "misleading".
The state government had contended the contents of the book tarnished Sardar Patel’s image.
The government alleged that certain references about Sardar Patel in the book were an attempt to defame the image of Vallabhbhai Patel as they questioned his patriotic spirit.
“Jaswant Singh's book questions role of Sardar Patel during the partition of India as well as his patriotic spirit. This is an attempt to tarnish the image of Patel who is considered the architect of modern united India,” a statement issued by the state government had said.
"It is a bid to defame Patel by distorting historical facts," it charged.
However, Jaswnat has been maintaining all along that there is no basis on which his book could be banned. He had called the ban on his book a ‘ban on thinking’.
The three-member bench headed by Chief Justice KS Radhakrishnan also said that the ban was a serious intrusion on fundamental rights of the citizens.
At the same time, the court said there is no restriction on the state government if it wants to come out with fresh notification.
The state government during the last hearing had urged the court to grant it time to come out with a fresh notification on proscribing the book.
Government sources said the state government is likely to issue fresh notification anytime.
During the last hearing, petitioners --Manishi Jani and Prakash Shah- had opposed the demand for time to issue a fresh notification and had sought an order on the present notification.
On the book ban issue on September one, the Supreme Court had issued notice to the Gujarat government on a petition by Singh and fixed the next date of hearing on September 8.
Singh's book if read in totality, portrays the image of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in a very derogatory manner and contains direct or indirect conclusions of the author, neither true nor warranted and are not acceptable to the people of Gujarat and the state government, the state government had said in its affidavit filed in the High Court.
Expressing his joy at the High Court judgement, Jaswant said, “I am absolutely thrilled to hear the judgement. I feel vindicated now.”
Taking a dig at Gujarat government for banning his book on flimsy grounds, he quipped, “Why did the court have to intervene at all. My book is no pornography. I have not used any foul or abusive language in my book.”
The senior BJP leader, Jaswant Singh, had written a book on Jinnah which was released last month and is selling like hot cakes but he drew flak from his party for the same. However, he was expelled from the party before the release of the book.
The expulsion of the former external affairs minister in the BJP-led NDA regime caused a stir within the party and leaders called for the reinstatement of the leader into the party after he served the party for more than 30 years.
First Published: Friday, September 04, 2009, 23:59