Plea to ban Salman Khurshid book: "These are chance-taking petitions," Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed a petitioner to withdraw his plea seeking a complete ban on publication, circulation, sale and purchase of 'Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times,' the book written by former Law Minister Salman Khurshid (Rakesh v UOI and Anr).

The petitioner was given liberty to file a fresh plea by arraying Khurshid as a party.

The Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh remarked that that if the petitioner was feeling so shy about making a Senior Advocate like Khurshid a party in his petition, he should not file a PIL.

"If you are feeling so shy about making a Senior Advocate party in your case who is also the author of the book, don't file a PIL. Most of the PILs are like this. Blackmailing or personal interest," Chief Justice Patel remarked.

The Bench remarked that the petition sought a total ban on sale, purchase and publication of the book, but made the Union of India and others parties, while leaving Khurshid out. CJ Patel added,

"People think they will garner some publicity through petitions like this. Why should we entertain it? These are chance-taking petitions," the Bench said.

As one of the lawyers present in the hearing pointed out, a similar petition had been dismissed by a single-judge bench of the High Court. However, CJ Patel remarked that he cannot be stopped from approaching the Court.

"We can't stop him from coming to court," he said.

The PIL had been filed by one Rakesh through Advocate Abhay Kumar Dubey arguing that the book's comparison of Hindutva with ISIS and Boko Haram has hurt Hindu sentiments and was therefore not covered under the freedom of speech an expression under Article 19 of the Constitution.

"The book is against Hindu Gods and hurts the sentiments of a lot of people," Dubey submitted.

Khurshid's new book has garnered controversy for allegedly comparing RSS with ISIS and Boko Haram. The controversial paragraph of the book reads,

“Sanatan dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints was being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to jihadist Islam of groups likes ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years.”

Just last week, the Delhi High Court dismissed a similar petition remarking that if people do not like the book or its author, they have the choice to not read it.