Book ban policy will kill ideas: SC on Meesha row

Book ban policy will kill ideas: SC on Meesha row

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that the culture of banning books impacts the free flow of ideas and should not be taken recourse to unless they are hit by Section 292 of the IPC that prohibits obscenity.

The bench of chief justice Dipak Misra, justice A M Khanwilkar and justice D Y Chandrachud reserved its order on a plea seeking to omit certain excerpts from the controversial Malayalam novel "Meesha" written by author S Hareesh.

"You are giving undue importance to this kind of stuff. In the age of Internet, you are making this an issue. It is best forgotten," said justice Chandrachud.

Counsel Gopal Shankarayanan told the court that the excerpt makes insinuations against the priestly class.

Reserving the order, the court asked the publication which had carried the controversial passages to submit a note within five days - giving the theme of the book and the three parts of the book carried by the publication translated into English.

Read more: Malayalam writer S Hareesh calls off novel after threats from right wing

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.