Delhi’s Patiala House Court On Wednesday refused to stop the publication, circulation, and sale of the recent book penned by designated senior advocate and former Union Minister Salman Khurshid. His Nainital house was vandalized on November 15.
The book has courted controversies for allegedly comparing Hindutva and terrorist groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram.
Additional Civil Judge Preeti Parewa has dismissed the plea filed by Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta which has sought directions to stop the publication, circulation, and sale of the controversial book.
The court is of the view that neither a prima facie case nor any exceptional circumstance for grant of ad interim, ex parte injunction in favour of the plaintiff was made out in the case.
“Also, the plaintiff has failed to establish that the balance of convenience lies in his favour. Hence, the prayer for ad interim, ex parte relief is declined at this stage,” said Justice Parewa.
“Furthermore, the defendant…herein has the right to write/publish the book. The plaintiff has not been able to establish that inconvenience will be caused to him to avoid the book or alleged offensive excerpts of the book. On the other hand, an injunction would lead to hardship for the publishers and also curtail the right of speech and expression of the author,” said the order.
“The plaintiff can always propagate against the book and can even publish rebuttals to the alleged paragraphs which have hurt his sentiments. Also, only a copy of the excerpt has been placed on record and such excerpt cannot be read in exclusion/isolation for interpreting the context in which the said statement has been made,” stated the order.
The excerpt which led to controversies appears on page number 113 of the book which states that the ‘classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a robust version of, by all standards, a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like the ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years’.
“I have not called these guys terrorists, I have just said they are similar in distorting religion. What Hindutva has done, it has pushed aside ‘Sanatan Dharma’ and Hinduism and it has taken over a robust, aggressive position similar to Boko Haram and those other guys…I could not find anybody else that they could be similar to. I said they are similar to them, that’s all, nothing to do with Hinduism. Hindutva, as portrayed by its proponents, is distorting religion,” said Khurshid during an interview.
Eight Shells and a Live Cartridge of 32 Bore Gun Recovered at Khurshid’s Vandalized House, Investigation Underway
The police has identified some of the suspects who allegedly attacked Salman Khurshid’s House on Monday.
As per Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Nilesh Anand Bharne, eight shells and a live cartridge of 32 bore gun, which is used primarily to scare away animals, were recovered by the Forensic team from the vandalized place. However, no arrests have been made yet.
