Supreme Court dismisses petition seeking ban on Malayalam novel Meesha

The Supreme Court today dismissed a petition seeking a ban on publication and circulation of Malayalam novel ‘Meesha’ authored by S Hareesh.

The judgment was pronounced by a Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.

While dismissing the petition, the Bench said,

“Subjective perceptions about a book should not be allowed to enter legal arena when it comes to censorship”.

The petitioner N Radhakrishnan had objected to a dialogue between two characters in the novel, which he claimed insults Hindu women.

The petitioner had prayed that all copies of a weekly magazine dated July 11, 2018, in which the controversial part of the novel was published be seized. He had also prayed for a ban on further publication of the novel.

During the hearing of the matter on August 2, the Bench had remarked that such things should not be given undue importance in the age of the internet.

CJI Dipak Misra had remarked that the ‘culture of banning’ will impact the free flow of ideas. The Court had then reserved its verdict while asking the publisher of the novel to produce a translated copy of the contentious part of the novel.

Read the Judgment: