Supreme Court has asked the petitioner to approach the Jammu and Kashmir High Court against the government’s order banning 25 books. The bench also requested the High Court Chief Justice to form a three-judge bench for early hearing.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that challenged a notification of the Jammu and Kashmir government declaring 25 books as forfeited.
The bench, consisting of Justices Surya Kant, Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, directed the petitioner to move the Jammu and Kashmir High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution.
The bench also requested the Chief Justice of the High Court to constitute a three-judge bench to hear the case at the earliest.
While doing so, the court clarified that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case.
Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, who appeared for the petitioner, submitted that the notification had an all-India effect and was extremely overbroad.
The court, however, observed that High Courts, being constitutional courts, are better placed to examine such challenges.
The impugned notification of the Jammu and Kashmir government identified and declared as forfeited several important works, including Indian political scientist Sumantra Bose’s “Contested Lands” and “Kashmir at the Cross Roads (Inside a 21st Century Conflict)”, renowned Indian scholar A.G. Noorani’s “The Kashmir Dispute 1947-2012”,
Indian journalist Anuradha Bhasin’s “A Dismantled State (The Untold Story of Kashmir after Article 370)”, Indian author and political activist Arundhati Roy’s “Azadi”, and “Kashmir & the future of South Asia”, which is edited by Indian historian and politician Sugata Bose along with Pakistani-American historian Ayesha Jalal.
The notification was issued under Section 98 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNSS), 2023. Section 98 states,
- “(1) Where (a) any newspaper, or book; or (b) any document, wherever printed, appears to the State Government to contain any matter the publication of which is punishable under section 152 or section 196 or section 197 or section 294 or section 295 or section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023), the State Government may, by notification, stating the grounds of its opinion, declare every copy of the issue of the newspaper containing such matter, and every copy of such book or other document to be forfeited to Government, and thereupon any police officer may seize the same wherever found in India and any Magistrate may by warrant authorise any police officer not below the rank of sub-inspector to enter upon and search for the same in any premises where any copy of such issue, or any such book or other document may be or may be reasonably suspected to be.
- (2) In this section and in section 99,
- 2(a) “newspaper” and “book” have the same meanings as in the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 (25 of 1867);
- 2(b) “document” includes any painting, drawing or photograph, or other visible representation.
- (3) No order passed or action taken under this section shall be called in question in any Court otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of section 99.”
The Supreme Court has thus left the matter for the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to examine, while ensuring that a larger bench is formed to hear the challenge without delay.
Case Title: SHAKIR SHABIR Versus UNION TERRITORY OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR AND ORS., W.P.(C) No. 794/2025
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