Bengaluru court restrains sale of book about Tipu Sultan on plea by former Wakf Board Committee chairman

A Bengaluru court on Monday restrained the sale and distribution of Kannada book “Tippu Nija Kanasugalu” which allegedly contains derogatory remarks against the Muslim community. .Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge JR Mendonca passed the order on a suit filed by the former Chairman of the District Wakf Board Committee, Rafiulla BS who claimed that the book portrays history incorrectly and 'Azan' which is the religious practice of the Muslim community is extracted in the book wrongly in order to hurt the feelings of the Muslim community."If the contents of the play are false and it contains false information about Tippu Sulthan (sic), and if the same are distributed, it would cause irreparable loss to the plaintiff and there are chances of breach of communal peace and harmony and there is a danger to the public peace. If the book is circulated pending appearance of the defendants, the purpose of the application itself would be defeated. It is common knowledge that the controversial books sell like hot-cakes. Therefore at this stage the balance of convenience is in favour of the plaintiff in granting the order of injunction as below," the Court ordered..The plaintiff in his suit contended that the book contains wrong information without any historical support or justification. He stated that the book does not state the source from where the author got the information. It was also contended that the author published the book without any knowledge about the history and based on his own interpretation of facts.It was further submitted that the incorrect portrayal of 'Azan' and the use of the word 'turukaru', which is a derogatory remark against the Muslim community, could cause unrest and communal disharmony.The Court noted that the book in its foreword and preface claimed that it contains the correct version of history and that the contents of actual historical books and what is taught as history in schools, is false.This, the Court said, would entitle the plaintiff to interim relief."These contentions by the author would prima facie show that the plaintiff has a prima-facie case to grant the order of temporary injunction as below. The plaintiff has claimed that the contents of the play are false and does not contain true facts. The author claims that what is actually written in the history and text books about Tippu Sulthan are not the correct facts and what is written in the play is based on true history to unveil the true nature of Tippu Sulthan. This has to be proved by the defendants no.1 to 3 during trial," the Court said..The Court, therefore, restrained the defendants Addanda C Cariappa, Ayodhya Publication and Rashtrotthana Mudranalaya from selling or distributing the book even via online medium.The Court, however, said that the defendants are at liberty to print the book at their own risk and also store the books which are already printed.Advocate Vikyath B appeared for the plaintiff.