Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government on Tuesday
filed an affidavit in the high court stating that it proposes
to issue a fresh notification on the issue of banning Jaswant
Singh's book, superseding the previous one.
The Narendra Modi-government issued a notification on
August 19, banning Singh's book "Jinnah: India, Independence,
Partition", which said it was against 'national interest' and
its contents were 'misleading'.
In reply to a petition challenging the ban, the
government also sought time to issue the fresh notification
under section 95 of CrPC, including the grounds of its opinion
why the book should be banned.
The earlier notification had not given any ground for
banning the book or mentioned its objectionable portions.
However, the petitioners -- social activists Manishi
Jani and Prakash Shah -- opposed the move by the state
government and requested the three-member bench headed by
Chief Justice K S Radhakrishnan, hearing the case, to pass an
order on the present notification issued on August 19, and not
grant any time to the government.
The court accepted the petitioners' request and
reserved the order.
They said the ban on Singh's book was illegal and
violated the fundamental right of a citizen.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, September 01, 2009, 18:26